Lee Erwin Reporting
lerwin@clarksvillenow.com
Hopkinsville, KY. – Concerns about the Ebola virus are on minds of just about everyone these days and Friday, October 17 the Christian County Health Department (CCHD) hosted a Public Health System Community Partner meeting about being prepared for an Ebola event.
Close to 40 members of area hospitals, nursing homes, first responders, emergency personnel, police and education officials attended the meeting to share information and talk about resources, materials and procedures for dealing with the virus.
Mark Pyle, Director of Public Health for Christian County spoke to the group and asked health and emergency personnel to talk about what they have done to prepare for Ebola and how they will protect their workers and employees in their organization from the virus.
Fort Campbell health officials said they have had numerous command briefings on Post and are waiting on guidance from federal organizations like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on handling the virus.
The question came up about 101st Soldiers at Fort Campbell currently deploying to West Africa to help contain the Ebola virus. There are plans for quarantine sites for the soldiers when they return to the U.S. but those sites will not be located in the area around Fort Campbell.
Beth McCraw with Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville said the hospital held their first meeting on Ebola October 2 and they have had multiple meetings since then. McCraw talked about a number of strict procedures in place to identify those people possibly having the disease.
McCraw added that a treatment area is being prepared for anyone with Ebola and nurses are also being especially trained to help with Ebola patients.
Pyle said other meetings are planned for other businesses and community organizations that were not able to make the first meeting. Pyle said he was encouraged by the response to the sessions on Ebola because it shows people are interested in learning more about the virus.