In three weeks, Kathryn Leos, like many Fort Hays State University students, will travel home to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. However, Leos is a sophomore from southeastern part of Dallas, Texas where one of the hospitals treating Ebola patients is located.
“When I’m driving home from the airport, I pass by the hospital,” said Leos, referring to Texas Presbyterian Hospital. “Usually, when I pass by the hospital my family and I have a tradition of saying a prayer for everyone who is sick to get better.”
Leos said she’s not worried about the recent cases of Ebola that have plagued the media for weeks.
“I feel perfectly safe going home because I know that I won’t get it,” Leos said. “I’m not worried about my family either because I know there is no way they can get it. I pass by that hospital almost every [time] I go home, and I know that they have everything under control.”
“The risk of contracting Ebola in Kansas is very low,” said Terry Siek, chief nursing officer at Hays Medical Center, “and it is far less likely that a person will contract EVD than other communicable diseases. At this time of year, influenza should be seen as a greater risk.”
While the risk is low, HaysMed personnel have implemented a series of procedures for identifying and treating EVD patients.
“In order to identify potential people with Ebola, all patients entering HaysMed facilities are being screened for Ebola using the two recommended Centers for Disease Control and Prevention questions,” Siek said.
Those questions are “Have you traveled to West Africa or one of the affected countries in the last 21 days?” and “Have you had contact with anyone with Ebola Virus Disease in the last 21 days?” If a patient answers yes to either of these questions, the patient will be put in isolation for further screening.
“Once a possible EVD patient is identified, the next step is to isolate,” Siek said. “The patient will be placed in an isolation area that poses no health risk to other patients, staff or visitors. The patient will be screened for other symptoms. If any positive symptoms are detected, the patient will be tested for the Ebola virus.”
HaysMed is working with the CDC and Kansas Department of Health and Environment to coordinate the testing of possible Ebola patients.
“The patient will remain in the isolation area until the test results are known,” Siek said. “Teams of caregivers will be assigned to the isolated patient and they will not treat any other patients until the patient’s diagnosis and treatment plans are complete. The caregivers will work in shifts and keep contact to a minimum.”
If a patient tests positive for Ebola, the final step is treatment.
“The EVD patient will remain in the isolation unit which contains a negative airflow system,” Siek said, “There are many factors that can determine where the EVD patient will remain for the course of their treatment. We are working with KDHE and CDC to be prepared for treatment at our facility, or transport as necessary. The goal is to provide the proper care in the right location.”
Ebola is one of five viruses that cause hemorrhagic fever. It was isolated in 1976 in Africa during an outbreak and is named for the Ebola River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to Siek, Ebola is spread through direct contact with blood or other bodily fluids such as saliva, mucus, vomit, feces, sweat, tears, breast milk, urine and semen of a person who is sick with Ebola. It is not airborne and does not spread through water or our food sources.
“I think that everyone is overreacting,” Leos said. “People here have a fear that it is going to spread everywhere even though it’s contained at the Texas Presbyterian Hospital. There are also people in Dallas who are overreacting, thinking they have Ebola even though they haven’t been in contact with an infected persons’ bodily fluids.”
Leos currently plans to fly home to be with family for Thanksgiving.
“When I’m driving home from the airport, I pass by the hospital,” Leos said. “Some of my friends parents actually work in the hospital, and they tell me that they still feel safe going to work every day so I’m not really worried.”