Hospital, Health Department Team Up on Ebola Exercise

(CHELSIE EVANS, RN, HSHS ST. ANTHONY'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ER NURSE, IS SUITED UP IN PROPER PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT WITH HER "PATIENT", SEMHAL HAILU, A FOURTH YEAR RN STUDENT IN THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING PROGRAM AT LAKEVIEW SCHOOL OF NURSING IN CHARLESTON. HAILU ACTED AS A POTENTIAL EBOLA PATIENT IN THE RECENT EBOLA FULLSCALE EXERCISE)

HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, in partnership with the Effingham County Health Department, took part in a regional Ebola Full Scale Exercise. The exercise was led by Illinois Emergency Services Region 6, which encompasses hospitals and health departments in Effingham, Danville, Decatur, Gibson City, Hoopeston, Mattoon, Monticello, Pana, Paris, Robinson, Shelbyville, Urbana, and Watseka.

The Region 6 Ebola Full Scale Exercise examined the hospitals’, health departments’, and Regional Hospital Coordinating Center’s (RHCC) collective capabilities to address a variety of considerations associated with response to a large and sustained response to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) from preparedness through response and recovery. For this reason, communication about the exercise was limited prior to the launch of the exercise, to make the scenario as real as possible and to test colleagues’ responses. Mock victims were used in the exercise to role play potential patients, which were easily identifiable with name tags.  Actual patient care was not affected by the exercise drill as patient care took precedence over the exercise.

The exercise allowed hospitals and health departments to test activation of their incident command; communicating with area health care providers and agencies in a crisis situation; managing and maintaining critical resources and materials such as personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and blood products; and managing the possible insurgence of patients and fatalities, among other potential issues that would need to be addressed in a health crisis such as outlined in this scenario. The likelihood of EVD case prevalence in this exercise scenario is extremely low according to most estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. 

Mary Finley, HSHS St. Anthony’s Director of Medical Staff and Quality Services, explained why St. Anthony’s decided to participate in the drill. “HSHS St. Anthony’s takes emergency preparedness very seriously.  Any time we have an opportunity to test the processes and procedures we have in place to keep our colleagues, Medical Staff, patients, and community safe, we will take advantage of that opportunity,” she said. “Through this scenario outlined in the exercise, we can implement the plans we have in place in case this type of health crisis occurs, allowing us to see what areas we are well-prepared and what areas we need to reinforce,” Finley explained. 

Bobbi Kinkelaar, Director of Nursing, shared her thoughts about the exercise.  “We couldn’t be more pleased with how all the hospital departments and county agencies involved collaborated during the exercise. This exercise was just one of the many steps we take year-round as part of our commitment to continual readiness.”

Karen Feldkamp, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for the Effingham County Health Department, said about the exercise, "We were pleased to participate in this Regional Ebola exercise and we feel like it went very well,” she shared.  “Collaboration between the health department and the hospital is essential to preparing for public health emergencies, like Ebola, in Effingham County."