Private hospitals trained to handle Ebola outbreak

[webfact]

Private hospitals trained to handle Ebola outbreak

BANGKOK, 14 October 2014 (NNT)-The Department of Health Service Support ้has held a training session for private hospitals on how to detect and treat Ebola patients . Its objective is to be prepared for a breakout, which is unlikely.

According to the Department, there are a few hospitals that failed to comply with the standard procedures when treating patient suspected of having Ebola.

Although there is no report of patients with Ebola in Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health is taking no chances. Medical personnel in private hospitals in Bangkok have recently been trained on how to contain and detect the fatal disease.

They have also been instructed to follow the standard protocols, which include abiding by the safety procedure if any patient is treated for Ebola in their hospital, monitoring the global outbreak, and identifying ways to prevent the spread; once the patient has been admitted.

People are encouraged to call Hotline 1442 to report to the Department of Disease Control if they run into anyone with suspicious symptoms.


-- NNT 2014-10-14

[Pib]

Wonder if they have already done the training for government hospitals also.

[Costas2008]

Wonder if they have already done the training for government hospitals also.

And the answer is NO.

Only may be in BKK.

They assume Ebola is not interested to visit the rest of Thailand.

No training or even mentioning of Ebola has taken place in the hospitals, near where I live in Issan.

And this comes from an inside source, as my wife is an ER nurse.

[Robby nz]

If someone who is suspected of having Ebola is taken to a private hospital who is going to pay ?

After all private hospitals are businesses and there to make a profit.

Presumably these trained private hospitals are all in BKK the most likely but not exclusive entry point.

Much better to set up a designated secure unit at either one of the public hospitals or better still at a military hospital with a military helicopter equipped to transport a suspected patient from any airport or border post in the country to the secure unit.

A unit with specially trained staff and equipment would keep everything in one place and could be used for any other highly contagious disease as well.

[Fred Flinstone]

Would they even tell the world if an outbreak occurred ?

Given their current believability .

[Pib]

Well, according to this 2 Aug 14 Nation news article govt/rural hospitals have received training. Awesome training I'm sure....sure hope it really was a refresher on how to handle the "flu" virus.

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"All Thai hospitals have enough facilities and technology to contain the outbreak. Many major hospitals in Thailand have sophisticated facilities to handle the virus," he said.

"While rural hospitals did not have this technology, staff had received training on controlling the virus using the model for containing influenza."

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Thailand is unlikely to see Ebola victims, forum told

Cattleya Chan,
Kathryn Huang
The Nation August 2, 2014 1:00 am

Thai hospitals ready and able to tackle cases if they do show up, expert says

The public should not panic over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa due to unsubstantiated social media reports, as there is little chance the deadly virus will make its way to Thailand - and even if it did, health organisations are well prepared to handle it, a seminar in Bangkok was told yesterday.

The virus is not airborne and can only be transmitted by direct contact, senior doctors said at "How to Handle the Ebola Virus When It Reaches Thailand".

"The Ebola virus's transmission is similar to that of HIV/Aids, which transmits only when there is a contact between organs and blood," said Dr Yong Poovorawan of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine.

He emphasised that it would be quite difficult for the disease to spread in Thailand.

He said there had been 20 Ebola outbreaks over the past four decades, but most were in West Africa.

Influenza spread quicker than Ebola due to the former being an airborne virus.

People could also contract Ebola through direct contact with a sufferer's blood or urine, he said.

With an Ebola mortality rate of 60 to 90 per cent, Yong assured the public that all hospitals would be able to control an outbreak.

"All Thai hospitals have enough facilities and technology to contain the outbreak. Many major hospitals in Thailand have sophisticated facilities to handle the virus," he said.

While rural hospitals did not have this technology, staff had received training on controlling the virus using the model for containing influenza.

The Ebola virus had the lowest basic reproduction number - about 1.34 to 1.83, meaning it could be spread to only one or two people at a time. For malaria, the figure is five to 100.

Speaking at the same session, Dr Roongroje Thanawongnuwech, dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Chulalongkorn University, said 699 bats and 50 monkeys were tested for Ebola and all the results came back negative.

Dr Narin Hiransuthikul, of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine, said there was no specified vaccine for the virus and the only way a doctor could help an Ebola patient was to give them medication to relieve the symptoms so the immune system could better fight the disease.

The maximum chance of survival is 40 per cent, he said, adding that small hygiene precautions such as washing hands are ways to prevent someone contracting the virus.

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Edited October 14, 2014 by Pib

[Jingthing]

Not sure how they define outbreak but seriously the chances of one or multiple cases showing here is actually more like PROBABLY than unlikely. The trick then is to PREVENT an outbreak!

What if a foreigner shows up at a private hospital with Ebola symptoms and can't pay?

A complication Thailand has is that diseases with quite similar presenting symptoms are common here, especially DENGUE, and malaria I presume.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Jingthing

[Suradit69]

Wonder if they have already done the training for government hospitals also.

Maybe they could offer training to the hospitals in Texas too.

Not sure how they define outbreak but seriously the chances of one or multiple cases showing here is actually more like PROBABLY than unlikely. The trick then is to PREVENT an outbreak!

What if a foreigner shows up at a private hospital with Ebola symptoms and can't pay?

A complication Thailand has is that diseases with quite similar presenting symptoms are common here, especially DENGUE, and malaria I presume.

"What if a foreigner shows up at a private hospital with Ebola symptoms and can't pay?

Or if someone with symptoms presents at a Dallas hospital and is sent away with some inappropriate antibiotics?

Edited October 14, 2014 by Suradit69

[rickirs]

"Its objective is to be prepared for a breakout, which is unlikely."

But ....

"According to the Department, there are a few hospitals that failed to comply with the standard procedures when treating patient suspected of having Ebola."

As we have seen in Texas, USA it only takes one person in a hospital not following ebola prevention protocol to spread the disease into the general population. Ebola is NOT infectious like HIV as it does not require solely blood and organ contact. Mere bare physical contact with an infected person OR with a surface touched by an infected person can spread ebola. Thailand's medical community's failure to appreciate the virility of ebola is scary.

[SOTIRIOS]

...considering the best equipped hospitals in the world have not been able to contain it......

[bangkokfrog]

Not sure how they define outbreak but seriously the chances of one or multiple cases showing here is actually more like PROBABLY than unlikely. The trick then is to PREVENT an outbreak!

What if a foreigner shows up at a private hospital with Ebola symptoms and can't pay?

A complication Thailand has is that diseases with quite similar presenting symptoms are common here, especially DENGUE, and malaria I presume.

What are the chances that a private hospital here would admit a patient with suspected Ebola even if they could pay?. Think of other patients they could lose if word got out and panic set in. Are they really there to serve or simply businesses?

[Tokay]

Totally protected and properly educated health workers in western hospitals are still catching it. Thailand doesn't stand a chance WHEN it comes here.

[Pib]

All it takes is the ebola infected patient to be untruthful about their travels or honestly think they don't have ebola when they first report to the hospital...by then many hospital personal and customers could have been exposed to the virus.

[Jingthing]

All it takes is the ebola infected patient to be untruthful about their travels or honestly think they don't have ebola when they first report to the hospital...by then many hospital personal and customers could have been exposed to the virus.

Human nature is to deny illnesses until you can't anymore. Unless you're a hypochondriac.

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[zydeco]

Personally, I'm not going anywhere near a Thai or other countries' hospital that is taking care of ebola patients. And I bet if one of the top level private Thai hospitals ever takes in an ebola patient, the entire complex will empty in a couple of hours.

[Pib]

I agree that if a ebola patient appeared at a private hospital that patient would be quickly transferred to a govt hospital where the govt would have total control of the treatment.. Plus a govt hospital full of patients receiving basically free medical care under the 30 baht medical program probably wouldn't see many patients leave since they know they couldn't get the free/low cost care anywhere else. Plus, if the patient died in a private hospital that would be bad press for medical tourism in Thailand.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Pib

[khaowong1]

Is this a new TAT tactic? Come to Thailand with your Ebola problems, we have you covered.

[Tokay]

Is this a new TAT tactic? Come to Thailand with your Ebola problems, we have you covered.

I can see it now, Come experience martial law in Thailand AND have your Ebola cured!

TAT should get on this ASAP.

[hawker9000]

Totally protected and properly educated health workers in western hospitals are still catching it. Thailand doesn't stand a chance WHEN it comes here.

If the infected nurse at Dallas Texas Presbyterian Hospital shows us anything, it's that even "prepared" hospital staffs aren't necessarily so. Avoiding infection for a healthcare worker might be more of a challenge than even ones with specific and recent training are actually prepared to handle, and they might not quite realize it. The news is reporting that the infection rate for healthcare workers in the affected countries in West Africa is quite high, and has driven down the number of doctors & overall healthcare workers available there, though of course there are many adverse factors involved there beyond "breaches in protocol".

I have real concerns for the safety of the 3-4000 troops Obama has sent over to W. Africa to assist, whether directly involved in any way with Ebola patients or not. But I also believe that if the situation in West Africa is allowed to bloom out of control, it'll be like a global dirty bomb going off. Projections for the growth in infections through the New Year are kind of scary.

One relevant article from WHO:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/25-august-2014/en/

[Jingthing]

Well, you know U.S. soldiers voluntary signed up to risk their lives for missions deemed in the interest of their country. I'm sure they will all be screened well when returning. In this case, they are risking their lives in the best interest of the entire world. I love them for that. Seems like not enough though!

[Tokay]

Totally protected and properly educated health workers in western hospitals are still catching it. Thailand doesn't stand a chance WHEN it comes here.

If the infected nurse at Dallas Texas Presbyterian Hospital shows us anything, it's that even "prepared" hospital staffs aren't necessarily so.

That is exactly what I mean. If western medical professionals are getting it, and you know they are going to be as meticulous as possible, then people who adhere to a life of mai pen rai don't have a chance.

[hawker9000]

Totally protected and properly educated health workers in western hospitals are still catching it. Thailand doesn't stand a chance WHEN it comes here.

If the infected nurse at Dallas Texas Presbyterian Hospital shows us anything, it's that even "prepared" hospital staffs aren't necessarily so.

That is exactly what I mean. If western medical professionals are getting it, and you know they are going to be as meticulous as possible, then people who adhere to a life of mai pen rai don't have a chance.

It's important to keep some perspective. So far, in the face of all the people Thomas Duncan was exposed to, healthcare workers at the hospital, as well as family, as well as whomever the family came in contact with while they were disobeying public health orders to remain in their residence, only one nurse has been, at least that we know of, infected. If the CDC WAS in fact asleep at the switch in any way, they may be getting a second chance to get it right. As for Thailand, you're probably right, in the main. They may need a live case or two for a wake-up call of their own, but I rather suspect (no, I don't know this and have absolutely nothing to support the suspicion), that anyone from the Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea actually IS receiving some kind of "extra attention" from immigration officers they encounter trying to enter the country. The fact that there's no news about it doesn't mean it's not happening and officials are just remaining tight-lipped about it. What the degree of readiness in the bigger hospitals might be I have no idea, but I shudder to think about a case showing up in one of the smaller hospitals or clinics... Then again, how likely is that?

I think the world is getting a chance to contain Ebola at its source in West Africa, but the clock is ticking... And second and third lines of defense (banning entry to persons from W. Africa, or even all int'l air travel) will do absolutely no good if they've already been breached before they're even in place.

Edited October 15, 2014 by hawker9000

[Pib]

Well, you know U.S. soldiers voluntary signed up to risk their lives for missions deemed in the interest of their country. I'm sure they will all be screened well when returning. In this case, they are risking their lives in the best interest of the entire world. I love them for that. Seems like not enough though!

Agree...much more support from the international community is needed...but the U.S. shouldn't carry the bulk of the load.

And unless I missed some news, countries like China have not provided any support or money other than maybe a very small token amount--probably for business purposes....buy "Made in China" medical gear.

[hawker9000]

Well, you know U.S. soldiers voluntary signed up to risk their lives for missions deemed in the interest of their country. I'm sure they will all be screened well when returning. In this case, they are risking their lives in the best interest of the entire world. I love them for that. Seems like not enough though!

...'Yes, voluntarily sign up and then equipped and trained for the combat & related missions they perform. Given that in this day & age their missions DO & HAVE included disaster relief, HAVE THEY in fact received the specialized training AND equipment they need for THIS uniquely hazardous mission, or are they just being sent in on an OJT (on-the-job training) basis and considered "expendable" because they are, as you say, volunteers for any old mission deemed in the "interest of their country" by this administration? Maybe so - maybe they've been drawn from USAMRIID or other medical-related units of their services; I don't know. 3-4000 seems like a lot if they are indeed drawn from specialty ratings. I probably wouldn't ask the question were it not for a healthcare professional in Dallas, who, presumably with all the right equipment & training, still managed to contract the disease and maybe the fact that their organizer-in-chief doesn't know or care about the difference between a corpsman and a corpseman. What I do know is that resources have been drawn from the CDC to pay for things like the Obamacare website, and I wonder if CDC wouldn't be taking on more of this burden had they not been so diluted.

http://www.cdccoalition.org/pdf/CDC_Coalition%20FY2014%20Senate_testimony.pdf

[sevenhills]

"Trained to handle an Ebola outbreak" What a joke. Next Thailand will be "The hub of Ebola treatment".

[mca]

They have also been instructed to follow the standard protocols,

Which includes removing a wallet from a potential Ebola victim's pocket to check for a valid credit card without coming into human contact.