IMPORTANT: FOLLOW UP NOTICE FROM Y-NHH

Begin forwarded message:
From: PhysicianSVCS <[email protected]:>
Subject: IMPORTANT: FOLLOW UP NOTICE FROM Y-NHH REGARDING
Ebola Virus
Date: October 16, 2014 at 9:13:54 AM EDT
To: PhysicianSVCS <PhvsicianSVCS{5>vnhh.orq>
IMPORTANT NOTICE — PLEASE READ BELOW
Dear Colleagues:
On Wednesday evening Yale-New Haven Hospital admitted a patient who met the threshold to be
monitored for Ebola virus disease (EVD). The Hospital is working with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the State Department of Public Health to have the patient tested for
EVD. The Hospital's Incident Command System (HICS) is currently overseeing operations related
to the monitoring and care of the patient. Abe Lopman, Senior Vice President, is incident
commander and Victor Morris, MD, Associate Chief Medical Officer, is the medical director in the
command structure. Guidance, resources, and communication for the hospital will cascade from
the Command Center.
As we continue to evaluate and monitor the patient, it is important to review our preparations so
far:
Morning Huddle
At 8:30 am every day, the Incident Management team is meeting to coordinate planning around
screening potential EVD patients and treatment of patients who are confirmed to have EVD. It is
expected that relevant information communicated during this meeting is passed along to
employees through established communications channels and through our management structure.
Procedures and Protocols
A multidisciplinary team has worked to update all procedures and protocols related to the care of
patients with infectious diseases. These include information on, but not limited to, screening,
isolation, transport, inpatient care, laboratory testing, imaging, cleaning and waste
removal. These protocols will be available via the clinical work stations and hospital intranet.
Treatment Locations
All employees are expected to understand their role in supporting and treating all patients,
including those who have or may have EVD. Some areas in the hospital are more likely to
encounter such patients. The emergency department is training staff at all four ED locations on
screening patients and on protocols for when a patient has been determined to be symptomatic.
Additionally, specific rooms on WP 8, WP 9 and NP 9 and 10 have been identified as areas for
treatment of patients with suspect and confirmed EVD.
Training
A new, hospital-wide training program has been developed. Additional resources are being
dedicated to this effort to ensure it is comprehensive and readily available for staff.
10/16/2014
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Our EVD preparation will be continuously refined, especially as we learn from and collaborate with
our state and federal government partners and other medical centers. We will continue to keep
you informed, and if you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to your manager or
supervisor.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and commitment to our patients.
Richard D'Aquila & Thomas Balcezak, MD
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10/16/2014

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