With concerns about the Ebola virus flooding the nation, Piedmont Healthcare has released a series of statements outlining how the parent company of Piedmont Fayette Hospital is dealing with the unfolding scene.
Piedmont Healthcare Communications and Public Relations Executive Director Elizabeth Wang said all Piedmont facilities are using guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Emory Healthcare.
“Piedmont Healthcare takes seriously its responsibility to provide high quality care in an environment that is safe for patients and staff,” Wang said. “As soon as Piedmont learned that Emory would be receiving two patients with the Ebola virus disease (EVD), we augmented our standard safety protocol with procedures appropriate for receiving patients who present to our emergency departments, physician offices and urgent care facilities with symptoms consistent with EVD. We are confident that the steps that we’ve taken will allow us to provide care that is in the best interest of all our patients and that keeps our staff safe.”
Wang said all Piedmont staff are being taught the acronym SPIN: Screen, Protect, Isolate and Notify.
• Screen — for patients who have a fever of 100.4 or higher and/or other clinical symptom and a travel history in the last 21 days to a country with an outbreak or exposure to known person with infection;
• Protect — staff should protect themselves with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE);
• Isolate — the patient to the predetermined isolation room (every hospital and physician office has designated an isolation area); and
• Notify — we will notify the appropriate personnel internally as well as the Dept. of Public Health.
“We created systemwide preparedness protocols that reflect guidance provided by the CDC and began training our staff on their responsibilities in screening suspected EVD patients, infection prevention and control procedures including use of personal protective equipment and treatment procedures,” said Wang.
Wang said plans include coordinating with local and district EMS and public health agencies in the identification and treatment of any such patients.
“We continue to update these protocols as we receive new or updated information from the CDC,” said Wang, noting that “additional and reinforced training for staff is ongoing.”
