Ebola cases wont be treated in mullingar

 

Mullingar hospital is not expected to have to treat any suspect cases of Ebola, should they arise in this area, the HSE has said this week.

 

Any cases that may arise will be referred to the national isolation unit at Dublin’s Mater Hospital, Dympna Bracken, communications officer with the HSE said this week.

 

However, staff in the ambulance service and the emergency department at the hospitals have protective clothing, should a patient present who is suspected of having contracted the virus.

 

“People in the emergency department, ambulances and GPs will be the first point of contact, and they have the protocols,” said Ms Bracken, adding that the HSE’s public health doctors will be available to provide back-up information to them.

 

To date there has been no case of Ebola in Ireland, and the HSE believes the overall risk of Ebola being imported into Ireland is “low”, she said.

 

The HSE has stated that all acute hospitals – which includes Mullingar – have been circulated with guidance aimed at minimising the risk of cross-infection. These include ensuring that all patients presenting with fever are asked during registration about any recent travel history, and ensuring staff are aware of how to use protective clothing, that they are aware of risk assessment processes, and that they are aware of the protocols in place for communication with GPs over referrals.

 

The guidance also covers the issue of awareness across hospitals about the specific ambulance transfer procedure for viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

 

In addition, the HSE says, the national virus laboratory is fully equipped to diagnose the disease, and has specialists in public health medicine trained in managing outbreaks of all infectious diseases including tropical diseases such as Ebola.

 

The situation is being monitored by the HPSC Ebola Virus Disease Advisory Sub-Committee – a specially convened panel of experts including specialists in infection control, clinical infectious diseases, public health medicine, paediatrics, clinical microbiology, viro-logical laboratory work, occupational medicine, pathology, emergency medicine, critical care and GPs, as well as experts from the National Isolation Unit at the Mater Hospital.