COLUMBUS, Ohio – The state Health Department says all of the hospitals in Ohio have finished running through their Ebola preparedness drills, including training in how to manage a suspect Ebola-positive patient and the proper use of personal protective equipment.
RELATED: New York watching first Ebola patient
There are no confirmed cases of Ebola in Ohio and none of the 163 people currently being monitored in Ohio have shown any Ebola symptoms, but hospitals should be prepared, Ohio Department of Health director Richard Hodges said.
Central Ohio officials explain their plan.
The state has been on alert since a Texas nurse, 29-year-old Amber Vinson, was diagnosed with the virus after visiting northeast Ohio earlier this month. Vinson helped care for a Liberian man with Ebola who died at a Dallas hospital.
Hodges called on all Ohio hospitals last week to conduct a series of training and practice drills, which were to include instruction for frontline patient-contact staff on how to properly receive and isolate Ebola patients and how to implement proper infection control practices.
The drills were also to include properly putting on and removing personal protective equipment and the department asked the hospitals to assess their stock of personal protective equipment to ensure they have an adequate supply.