Essay On The Response To The Ebola Outbreak

Introduction

The Ebola virus, which is also known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a unique but highly contagious infection that was identified in 1976 in Central Africa. However, the first case of Ebola in the United States of America was recognized in 2014 during the west Africa outbreaks (Molinari, LeBlanc & Stephens, 2018). During this time, the virus was associated with characteristics such as high rates of death and occurs in remote areas of low population. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human transmission.

The discovery of the Ebola virus in the United States created fear and panic as well as essential media attention. In response to prevent its spread in the US, the World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and other international partners, combined an effort and implemented emergency measures and services that aids in screening, detection and treatment of  travelers getting into non-epidemic countries (Herstein et al.,2016). The paper is a discussion of new emergency services that are put forward by the above health organizations as well as the United States government concerning of Ebola which are a multitiered framework of hospitals, public health resilience checklist, emergency airway management devices and set aside finance.

According to Herstein et al., (2016), the CDC, WHO and the Department of Health and Human Services in the US faced some preparedness challenges during the implementation services. For that matter, the US center of Disease Control and Prevention recommended a framework of hospitals with multiple tiers and advanced capabilities of providing Ebola care. The framework contains frontline contains frontline facilities treatment centers and assessment hospitals for explicitly handling Ebola virus emergencies whenever detected. After following that recommendation, the federal and states government has designated 55 hospitals with capabilities of providing emergency care to Ebola patients. Finally, there are training modules on Ebola preparedness and epidemic that are watched frequently by emergency volunteers, to aid in handling and to care for Ebola patients during the outbreak.

Furthermore, there are Emergency Airway Management devices that are being explicitly implemented for Ebola patients (Plazikowski et al., 2018). The authors present a report on recent research concerning the development of airway management devices in providing standard protection against the infectious disease. The assessment results indicate that these devices are capable of providing personal protection to the emergency providers as well as the required protection of patients using the new emergency airway management services. Also, these airway devices enable the fastest airway management in all isolation scenarios. Therefore, they are recommended for Ebola emergency unit whenever portable isolation is needed.

Public Health Resilience Checklist is also a new emergency service recently developed by the Domestic Ebola Response team in the US. The primary focus in developing the resilience checklist is to improve the public health resilience to Ebola future events. Sell et al., also states that the development of a checklist focused on essential health aspects in the United States such as leadership and governance, public trust and communication, monitoring programs waste management and environment contamination. As such, the emergency department has developed an evidence informed checklist that will improve and strength the public health resilience in case of Ebola virus occurrence.

Moreover, there is an essential amount of finance set aside for purposes of emergency services on future Ebola cases (Smite et al.,2017). Smit et al., al point out that during the past Ebola patient crisis, the issue of resource allocation in emergency facilities raised a challenge in handling Ebola patients. After a surveying, the authors came up with a financial figure needed for Ebola Virus Disease emergencies regarding its labour costs, resource supply costs and the cost of other necessities. It turns out that the cost of emergency services on Ebola viruses which has a substantial impact on emergency activates during the Ebola outbreak. Therefore, the regional and state’s government should prepare to facilitate the allocation of adequate financial resources in medical care facilities for future Ebola crisis.

In conclusion, the new and emergency services regarding Ebola virus disease in the United States indicate adequate preparedness by the health department. The new services discussed include a multi framework of hospitals, public health resilience checklist, emergency airway management devices and set aside finance. All these factors may aid in providing efficient emergency care for future Ebola victims.

References

• Hageman, J. C. (2016). Infection prevention and control for Ebola in health care settings—West Africa and the United States. MMWR supplements, 65.
• Herstein, J. J., Biddinger, P. D., Kraft, C. S., Saiman, L., Gibbs, S. G., Smith, P. W., … & Lowe, J. J. (2016). Initial costs of Ebola treatment centres in the United States. Emerging infectious diseases, 22(2), 350.
• Molinari, N. A. M., LeBlanc, T. T., & Stephens, W. (2018). The Impact of a Case of Ebola Virus Disease on Emergency Department Visits in Metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, July 2013–July 2015: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis. PLoSCurrents, 10.
• Plazikowski, E., Greif, R., Marschall, J., Pedersen, T. H., Kleine-Brueggeney, M., Albrecht, R., & Theiler, L. (2018). Emergency Airway Management in a Simulation of Highly Contagious Isolated Patients: Both Isolation Strategy and Device Type Matter. Infection control & hospital epidemiology, 39(2), 145-151.
• Smit, M. A., Rasinski, K. A., Braun, B. I., Kusek, L. L., Milstone, A. M., Morgan, D. J., & Mermel, L. A. (2017). Ebola Preparedness Resources for Acute-Care Hospitals in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study of Costs, Benefits, and Challenges. Infection control & hospital epidemiology, 38(4), 405-410.