Officials at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center said they are prepared to treat a potential patient with the Ebola virus at the hospital, following a drill Friday simulating the scenario.
The drill was planned to test how prepared the hospital staff would be if the disease spread to Los Angeles, said Robert Kim-Farley, an epidemiology professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, during a press conference after the drill.
As part of the drill, medical staff, dressed in full-body personal protective equipment, identified a fake patient as having Ebola and safely moved him from the emergency room to the intensive care unit.
“This exercise that was done today is exactly what we would be expecting to do if there was a case of Ebola,” Kim-Farley said.
While the patient was transferred, the hospital hallways were cleared of all other people so there was no risk of the virus spreading to other patients or staff, he added.
UCLA Health System officials also recently adjusted their medical record system to place a red flag on patients’ electronic charts if they have recently traveled to high-risk areas, according to a UCLA Health statement.
Compiled by Sam Hoff, Bruin senior staff.