KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Emergency plans to fight Ebola are being put into place all over the country including hospitals in the metro.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an alert to all U.S. hospitals warning them to make an emergency plan. Officials at the University of Kansas immediately got to work.
“There’s no drug treatment for it, there’s no immunization for it,” Dr. Lee Norman said.
It’s one of the most frightening facts about the Ebola virus, which is holding Africa hostage.
Now with infected Americans traveling back to the states, hospitals all over the country are being warned to be prepared.
Dr. Lee Norman with the University of Kansas hospital talks about the Ebola scare in a video provided by KU hospital.
“I’m sure one of the things that contribute to the high fatality rate in West Africa is the fact that they don’t have that good intensive care type support for a person when they get this illness,” Dr. Norman said.
Treatment in the U.S. will be much more secure for people infected.
KU hospital already has 17 isolated rooms ready in case someone in the area develops Ebola. They have negative air flow, with a ventilation system to keep air locked tight in each room. They’re normally used for patients with tuberculosis.
While local doctors say it is unlikely Ebola will spread to the Midwest, they say the deadly virus is only an airplane ride away.
“The current rate is about 50 to 60 percent when you look across all the populations,” said Dr. Norman.
This emergency plan will begin right when someone walks in the doors of the hospital.
If someone shows up with the flu like symptoms associated with Ebola, doctors there say they’ll be very specific with questions asking about previous travel to figure out if the person has been exposed.
