Emergency Preparedness

Appendix H.5 – HID

Kern Medical Emergency Preparedness

HIGHLY INFECTIOUS DISEASE/Epidemic PURPOSE: To standardize the risk assessment, triage, transportation, and management of patients with any highly infectious disease throughout Kern Medical and its clinics. It is the policy of Kern Medical to take care of those in need regardless of their illness. Kern Medical is committed to providing a safe environment for everyone, patients, visitors, and staff. CDC and California Division of Occupational Safety and Health recommends that all hospitals in the U.S. be prepared to care for patients who could have any highly infectious disease. DEFINITIONS: • Standard Precautions: Work practices that require that blood, all body fluids (except sweat), secretions and excretions, mucous membranes and non-intact skin of all patients be treated as potentially infectious. The precautions are designed to reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms from both recognized and unrecognized sources of infection. • Contact Precautions : In addition to Standard Precautions, for patients who are suspected or known to be infected with organisms that can be transmitted by direct contact with the patient (hand or skin-to-skin contact that occurs while performing patient-care activities that require touching the patient's dry skin) or indirect contact with environmental surfaces or patient-care items in the patient's environment. • Droplet Precautions: In addition to Standard Precautions, for patients known or suspected to be infected with microorganisms transmitted by droplets (large- particle droplets larger than 5 micrometer in size) that can be generated by the patient during coughing, sneezing, talking, or the performance of procedures involving the respiratory tract. Microorganisms can be acquired by direct contact, by contact with droplets over distances of 3-6 feet, as well as by contact with objects recently contaminated with respiratory secretions. • Airborne Precautions: In addition to Standard Precautions, for patients known or suspected to be infected with microorganisms transmitted by airborne droplet nuclei [small-particle residue (5 micrometer or smaller in size) of evaporated droplets containing microorganisms that remain suspended in the air and that can be dispersed widely by air currents within a room or over a long distance]. • Ebola Virus Disease (EVD): formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission. The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): CDC is a federal agency that conducts and supports health promotion, prevention and preparedness activities in the United States with the goal of improving overall public health. • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The EPA was established in

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