Is the Bay Area prepared for an Ebola outbreak? Most local government agencies seem to think so.
California's two senators are asking trade groups representing the state's hospitals to make sure their members have protocols in place should a patient with Ebola walk through their doors.
Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein say it appeared that a communication breakdown allowed a Texas patient to be sent home without the medical staff considering Ebola as a possible diagnosis.
In their letter Friday, the Democrats say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described how to screen for Ebola and isolate and treat patients suspected of having it. They say it is critical for the hospital groups to make sure the recommendations have been widely disseminated.
A California Hospital Association spokeswoman says hospitals are well-prepared and noted that members recently attended seminars and a conference call regarding Ebola.
San Francisco General Hospital Epidemiologist Lisa Winston said the hospital and every hospital in the Bay Area is equipped to deal with infectious diseases far more contagious then Ebola.
"It’s very similar to the way we isolate patients for other diseases, and the types of equipment that we need to keep our health care workers safe are like the types of equipment that we use every day," she said.
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Winston says any single bed hospital room can be transformed into an isolation room.
The Department of Emergency Services says paramedics already have the necessary equipment and training – what they are going over now is identification: being aware of what a case of Ebola might look like.
A spokesman for San Francisco International Airport told NBC Bay Area customs and border patrol agents are also trained to handle arriving passengers who are showing symptoms of disease.
The spokesman said there isn’t a lot of concern at the airport because there are no direct flights from West Africa to the Bay Area.
