Good Communication Facilitated Successful Transport of Yale Patient with Ebola-like Symptoms

Good communication and planning facilitated the successful transport of a Yale student who was experiencing Ebola-like symptoms Wednesday night.

A preliminary test result came back negative for Ebola Thursday afternoon. Still, each transport has helped emergency responders learn more about best practices when transporting a possible Ebola-stricken patient.

American Medical Response, a nationwide ambulance company, performed the transport of the patient last night, said Chuck Babson, general manager of Eastern Connecticut for AMR.

“Because we know this was a patient Yale was monitoring it was a planned thing we got to map out what we wanted to do,” he said.

AMR, as well as city, Yale and state officials pooled together on plans to transport the patient, Babson said.

“We did a walkthrough drill before we did the actual event, which made it happen seamlessly,” he said. “The partnerships we had last night and everyone working together was phenomenal.”

An AMR ambulance was sealed in plastic and the crew that responded wore CDC-recommended equipment. The New Haven Fire Department Hazardous Materials Unit helped prepare the AMR personnel with properly donning specialized clothing.

The patient was then moved and any personnel that dealt with the patient were sent to a decontamination room at Yale-New Haven Hospital where they were properly decontaminated and clothing was removed.

AMR personnel are all trained on the transport of contagious patients and the training, especially when dealing with possible Ebola cases, is evolving, Babson said.

AMR in New Haven had the advantage of advice from personnel who dealt with the Ebola cases in Dallas. In turn, anything learned during the New Haven transport that may be of help in future cases can be relayed.

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