Ebola

Gael23

How are our A&E Departments and GPs surgeries equipped to deal with a person who believes they have symptoms of Ebola?
Also from a confidentiality perspective I imagine it would cause difficulties given that exposure to healthcare staff and other patients must be minimised so the patient cannot be left wait with other patients and if patients were to see a Doctor dressed in protective gear people will know what its for.

Xeyn

Ebola is a notifiable disease so anyone who presented with symptoms suggestive of and having a contact or been to an endemic area/country would likely to be sent for testing and notification if necessary. Then it's out of their hands. Ebola is very difficult to contract so there shouldn't be a big problem.

Vorsprung

I work in a busy urban ED.

I've heard zero from consultants or the hospital about it. Nothing about PPE, isolation procedures.

Pretty disappointing but not surprising.

Xeyn

Vorsprung wrote: »

I work in a busy urban ED.

I've heard zero from consultants or the hospital about it. Nothing about PPE, isolation procedures.

Pretty disappointing but not surprising.

That's pretty contrary to what te HSE was telling the media. Basically said we were all specially trained to deal with cases.
The most I got at my last hospital was an algorithm action plan stuck in the surgical office. The same was posted in the ED. Better than nothing I suppose!

Dingle_berry

We've been told & demonstrated what PPE and equipment to use as well as general info, provided by consultant microbiologist & infection control team. It all depends on us being notified that the patient is at risk or high risk though. So if the clinicians aren't told then....

I also find it comical that the national isolation unit was built in the middle of our largest urban area and without any suitable support services like pathology or radiology.
If a patient presents and is found to be at risk or high risk the NIU is fired up and the patient is transfered there. But their samples are to remain & be tested by the hospital where they presented.

RobFowl

Vorsprung wrote: »

I work in a busy urban ED.

I've heard zero from consultants or the hospital about it. Nothing about PPE, isolation procedures.

Pretty disappointing but not surprising.

I'm a GP and anything I've been told about the plans is from media reports. We have had absolutely no info or advice on decontamination processes after seeing a suspected case and no info on how to dispose properly of it (or even any indication of who'll have to pay for it"
Suspect they will expect GP's will have to pay for it all themselves (probably will cost a 4 figure sum which will come out of the €50 the patient will be charged......)

Malmedicine

Vorsprung wrote: »

I work in a busy urban ED.

I've heard zero from consultants or the hospital about it. Nothing about PPE, isolation procedures.

Pretty disappointing but not surprising.

Working in rural ED, We have an "Ebola" trolley basically gowns face masks and double gloves along with the algorithms. We have an isolation room (not in the department) with a window for immediate venting!

Gael23

RobFowl wrote: »

I'm a GP and anything I've been told about the plans is from media reports. We have had absolutely no info or advice on decontamination processes after seeing a suspected case and no info on how to dispose properly of it (or even any indication of who'll have to pay for it"
Suspect they will expect GP's will have to pay for it all themselves (probably will cost a 4 figure sum which will come out of the €50 the patient will be charged......)

I was listening to a woman on TV yesterday form the HSE, cant remember her name but she suggested the HSE would cover the cost of PPE and even so it wouldn't cost the earth.

Have GPs been advised on how to protect other patients attending their surgery at the same time as someone with suspected Ebola?

RobFowl

ryanf1 wrote: »

Have GPs been advised on how to protect other patients attending their surgery at the same time as someone with suspected Ebola?

No, not a word about it. Most GP's I spoke to feel people with suspected Ebola should have accesss toa freephone number and should staay away fom GP surgeries.
HSE advice is to attend your GP first but they have given us little if any guidance.

Gael23

RobFowl wrote: »

No, not a word about it. Most GP's I spoke to feel people with suspected Ebola should have accesss toa freephone number and should staay away fom GP surgeries.
HSE advice is to attend your GP first but they have given us little if any guidance.

Even if that freephone number was to a control centre and you as a GP could be alerted that someone was coming so you could make arrangements segregate them or see them immediately when they arrive.

Theres got to be issues around confidentiality there too, in that if other patients see a Doctor calling a patient while wearing PPE and so on they will know whats going on

ProfessorPlum

RobFowl wrote: »

No, not a word about it. Most GP's I spoke to feel people with suspected Ebola should have accesss toa freephone number and should staay away fom GP surgeries.
HSE advice is to attend your GP first but they have given us little if any guidance.

Emmm. You've got to wonder if they've got that one entirely worked out!

Gasherbraun

There is understandably a lot of hysteria and supposition concerning Ebola on certain sections of boards (and in society) at the moment.

There are obviously healthcare professionals posting here and I wondered what you guys thought of the probability if the virus reaching Ireland and whether it can be controlled? Also is a vaccine / treatment likely in your opinions?

Sorry appreciate they are big questions without definitive answers but just interested in a more informed point of view.

Thanks.

LETS GET NAKED

Some staff in the Mater A&E got training yesterday. Apparently it was a good laugh. Are there any odds on Paddy Powers yet on it making it to Ireland before Christmas?

avalon68

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

Emmm. You've got to wonder if they've got that one entirely worked out!

Where else would you go? The chances of someone who is feeling ill, with a fever actually having Ebola are miniscule - should everyone with the sniffles be packed off to an isolation ward? Might I remind you its almost the time of the year for colds/flu. The hospitals are overstretched as it is without having hoards of people with a cold descending into A&E because they think they have ebola. Its not something that is easy to catch - the cases in the US and spain involved healthcare workers dealing with a lot of bodily fluids/procedures that generate aerosols. Thats not the same as sitting in a waiting room with someone.

avalon68

Gasherbraun wrote: »

There is understandably a lot of hysteria and supposition concerning Ebola on certain sections of boards (and in society) at the moment.

There are obviously healthcare professionals posting here and I wondered what you guys thought of the probability if the virus reaching Ireland and whether it can be controlled? Also is a vaccine / treatment likely in your opinions?

Sorry appreciate they are big questions without definitive answers but just interested in a more informed point of view.

Thanks.

There are several vaccines/treatments in testing phases. The major journals have made all of their Ebola related research free to read for members of the public so you can keep up-to date with what is happening on the Science and Nature journal sites, along with a few more.

ProfessorPlum

avalon68 wrote: »

Where else would you go? The chances of someone who is feeling ill, with a fever actually having Ebola are miniscule - should everyone with the sniffles be packed off to an isolation ward? Might I remind you its almost the time of the year for colds/flu. The hospitals are overstretched as it is without having hoards of people with a cold descending into A&E because they think they have ebola. Its not something that is easy to catch - the cases in the US and spain involved healthcare workers dealing with a lot of bodily fluids/procedures that generate aerosols. Thats not the same as sitting in a waiting room with someone.

Oh dear! No I was rather thinking that people with symptoms who have had recent travel to affected areas might be able to avail of an information helpline - kind of like they brought in when SARS and Swine flu was about (in the UK anyway, not sure what they had here) oh, and what it seems a lot of the frontline staff here are suggesting. Why on earth would you think that I think going to A&E would be a better idea?



The Irish Medical Organisation is concerned that no extra resources have been put in place for public doctors.

The body highlighted a number of areas for concern which they believe show we're not dealing with the threat properly.

These concerns include:

The wisdom of advising patients with Ebola systems to visit their GP, "when GP surgeries are not the appropriate setting". The IMO said this advice is "potentially dangerous"

Gasherbraun

avalon68 wrote: »

There are several vaccines/treatments in testing phases. The major journals have made all of their Ebola related research free to read for members of the public so you can keep up-to date with what is happening on the Science and Nature journal sites, along with a few more.

Thanks. Sorry one more question....

Is there any site in particular that you recommend for an informed and balanced flow of information? I do not mind if it is of a technical nature.

Thanks

avalon68

Gasherbraun wrote: »

Thanks. Sorry one more question....

Is there any site in particular that you recommend for an informed and balanced flow of information? I do not mind if it is of a technical nature.

Thanks

http://www.sciencemag.org/site/extra/ebola/?intcmp=HP-COLLECTION-PROMO-EBOLA

A mix of technical and non.

Gasherbraun

avalon68 wrote: »

http://www.sciencemag.org/site/extra/ebola/?intcmp=HP-COLLECTION-PROMO-EBOLA

A mix of technical and non.

Thanks. Shall take a look.

palmcut

If a customer presents in a pharmacy with some Ebola symptoms and was recently in West Africa, where should the pharmacist send that customer?

ProfessorPlum

palmcut wrote: »

If a customer presents in a pharmacy with some Ebola symptoms and was recently in West Africa, where should the pharmacist send that customer?

Is this a hypothetical question or......:eek:

Gael23

palmcut wrote: »

If a customer presents in a pharmacy with some Ebola symptoms and was recently in West Africa, where should the pharmacist send that customer?

Seems a bit self explanatory?? Straight to A&E I would imagine

Xeyn

Father just informed me that he and the other GPs in the practice as well as the practice nurse have received an Ebola package containing a safety suit from the HSE.

ProfessorPlum

Xeyn wrote: »

Father just informed me that he and the other GPs in the practice as well as the practice nurse have received an Ebola package containing a safety suit from the HSE.

Was there one each or do they have to share?

Xeyn

Tis a good question. Might have been an oversight on the HSEs part that they gave them one each.

Dingle_berry

The Health Protection and Surveillance Centre is the authority/organisation for the outbreak. Their website has an entire section dedicated to Ebola with news, advice for the public, advice for health care workers, GPs, travellers, etc. The advice for health care workers volunteering is under the section for travellers.

Travel Advice
Advice for Health Professionals
Advice for GPs

The advice for GPs and Health Care Practitioners includes a risk assessment algorithm and risk assessment form which have contact phone numbers on them should a patient present with a high fever.
The algorithms, news, etc are subject to frequent updates and revision so I wouldn't print them off, just bookmark and distribute the link.

Removing soiled PPE is probably the most high risk activity. If you have to do it, take your time, think about it logically, remove the most soiled articles first (gloves), only touch clean to clean and dirty to dirty.

Vorsprung

This might be useful for an idea on infection control procedures and management in the acute hospital setting, should be laminated at triage/central stations in EDs nationwide if not there already!http://www.hpsc.ie/A-Z/Vectorborne/ViralHaemorrhagicFever/Assessingapossiblecase/File,14074,en.pdf

Re: infection control procedures, HPSC advocates single room with gloves, fluid repellant surgical mask, long sleeve fluid resistant/repellant gown and goggles/visor. Airborne precautions for aerosol generating procedures with an FFP3 mask.

Instructions on how to put all this on and take it off are here

hamo31

Did you know that CDC (Centre for disease control) of US has a patent on the Ebola virus since 2009. To my understanding you take a patent on something you create, something new and unknown. Does this mean that the CDC created the ebola virus ?
Can someone please check this out. Here's the link to the patent on the patent office
website. You will need to fix the link as boards will not allow me to post this as a proper link. Just remove the question marks.

h?t?t?p://?w?w?w?.google?.com?/patents/US20120251502

ProfessorPlum

hamo31 wrote: »

Did you know that CDC (Centre for disease control) of US has a patent on the Ebola virus since 2009. To my understanding you take a patent on something you create, something new and unknown. Does this mean that the CDC created the ebola virus ?
Can someone please check this out. Here's the link to the patent on the patent office
website. You will need to fix the link as boards will not allow me to post this as a proper link. Just remove the question marks.

h?t?t?p://?w?w?w?.google?.com?/patents/US20120251502

No, it doesn't. Ebola has been around for a lot longer than that. It was first identified in 1976, but was likely in existence long before that in its animal reservoir, and even possibly causing sporadic disease in humans. I'm guessing the patent is to do with research the CDC / US government undertakes.

ectoraige

hamo31 wrote: »

Did you know that CDC (Centre for disease control) of US has a patent on the Ebola virus since 2009. To my understanding you take a patent on something you create, something new and unknown. Does this mean that the CDC created the ebola virus ?
Can someone please check this out. Here's the link to the patent on the patent office
website. You will need to fix the link as boards will not allow me to post this as a proper link. Just remove the question marks.

h?t?t?p://?w?w?w?.google?.com?/patents/US20120251502

Without even looking at it, I would hazard a guess that it's a patent for creating a deactivated (safe) form of the virus for use in research.

hamo31

I think it's a patent for the ebola virus for use in biological warfare.
This surely needs to be investigated. I can't think of any reason why CDC would create the virus and patent it.
Hamo31

ProfessorPlum

Well they must be really pissed off now that the natural occurring outbreak has stole their thunder.


It was pretty nice of the CDC to patent their biological warfare endeavours all the same.

Gael23

So apparently we are prepared
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mater-hospital-to-carry-out-ebola-simulation-648950.html

uck51js9zml2yt

ryanf1 wrote: »

So apparently we are prepared
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mater-hospital-to-carry-out-ebola-simulation-648950.html

Rumour has it, it was just like the real thing.