Massena Memorial Hospital chief nursing executive Sue Beaulieu gives a demonstration of equipment used in the treatment of the Ebola virus to the hospital’s Board of Managers. Senior director of practice management Zachary Chapman dons a full face protective mask with a respirator that is worn around the waist.

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- In response to federal and state directives to deal with potential cases of the Ebola virus, Massena Memorial Hospital is training its workers on identifying potential cases and what to do if they suspect a patient may be infected.

Chief nursing executive Sue Beaulieu told the MMH Board of Managers that when a patient comes to registration, the first questions they are asked, before even their name, is have they traveled overseas in the last 21 days to a country the Centers for Disease Control identifies as an Ebola threat and are they exhibiting symptoms of the disease? Or, have they had close contact with someone who has?

“One of the (state) requirements is … we have to have protocol for our registration staff,” Beaulieu said.

Ebola, or hemorrhagic fever, causes symptoms from 2 to 21 days after infection, the CDC says. They include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexpected bleeding or bruising. It is transmitted by coming into contact wiht the bodily fluids of an infected person. It is not airborne.

Beaulieu said if the patient answers “yes” to either question, the registration clerk immediately has to wash their hands and don a protective mask and gloves, then right away notify the nursing supervisor that there is a potential Ebola patient. The patient is then put in full protective garb, including a respirator, and placed in emergency room three, which is a negative pressure room.

From there, if they test positive for the disease, they would be shipped to one of eight hospitals in New York state that the Department of Health has identified as capable of treating and isolating Ebola cases. The nearest to St. Lawrence County is Upstate University Hospital, Syracuse.

MMH board member Gary Borgosz said they have to stay on top of keeping registration clerks trained in the protocol, since it’s their department with the highest turnover rate.

“We have to make sure when we have a turnover, those new people know how serious it is,” he said.

Beaulieu went through a lengthy demonstration of how nurses and physicians treating suspected or confirmed Ebola cases would handle themselves.

She said they are the ones at highest risk of contracting the disease, and the most likely time it would transmit is when taking off protective wear.

“It’s not only getting it on right, but taking it off,” she said. Beaulieu added that the CDC still isn’t sure what the safest way is to remove protective materials after dealing with an Ebola patient, but believes they will release information in the near future.

MMH CEO Charles Fahd said he pored over pages and pages of suggested safety protocol from the feds, state health officials and national healthcare groups, and they all have different ideas of the correct method.

“They’re not necessarily in tune with one another,” he said.

Beaulieu said MMH is forgoing the full-body hazmat suits seen on TV in favor of surgical garb. She says the CDC requires a minimum of a gown, mask, protective footwear and gloves.

If MMH ever treated an Ebola patient, attending nurses and physicians would wear a surgical smock that ties in the back, with tight wrist cuffs. They would wear one short glove tucked into the wrist and a second pair of long gloves over that.

“So it’s not going to slip down and leave exposed skin,” she said.

In addition to that, they would wear protective footwear, a protective covering for the head and hair and a plastic face shield.

She said the reason she and her staff opted for the surgical smock is because it can be untied and pulled off, rather than jostled off like a one-piece hazmat jumpsuit.

The second pair of gloves allows the person wearing them to have a clean pair under the pair used to touch the patient, thereby reducing the risk of viral transmission, Beaulieu said.

She added that there are still a plethora of issues to be resolved, not just locally, but nationwide. She said not only does just about anything the patient touched have to go, there is only one hauler in the United States that is certified to move Ebola waste over state lines.

“There’s a lot of waste … blankets, sheets, pillows, anything you can think of,” Beaulieu said.