Emergency Preparedness

Appendix H.5 – HID

Kern Medical Emergency Preparedness

observer • Psychology Services  Support groups are available to all staff  Psychiatry, social work, and psychology led support groups will be made available  Specific times are dependent on the unit’s needs, with the goal of reaching all HID team members. These groups follow principals of Psychological First Aid and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing  Individual Psychiatry check-ins will occur on the unit with individual nurses and ancillary staff on duty.  Psychiatry is available to contact members of the HID team on days off to check in telephonically, in coordination with Leadership.  The Kern Medical Employee Assistance Program (EAP) will be made available on-site for individual and group interventions 5 days a week, depending on need  Pastoral care is available for interested staff • Media/Communication  All media and internal communications shall first be approved by Kern Medical Leadership and the Chief Executive Officer or their designee • Lab Services  Lab Procedure  EVD is detected in blood only after the onset of symptoms, usually fever. It may take up to 3 days after symptoms appear for EVD to reach detectable levels. EVD is generally detectable by real-time RT-PCR from 3-10 days after symptoms appear.  Specimens ideally should be taken when a symptomatic patient reports to a healthcare facility and is suspected of having an EVD exposure. However, if the onset of symptoms is <3 days, a later specimen may be needed to completely rule-out EVD virus, if the first specimen tests negative.  The decision to send specimens for confirmation Ebola testing will be made by the on-call infectious disease physician or the Laboratory Medical Director or designee.  Laboratory Notification:  In cases of suspected EVD or other HID infections, Emergency Room personnel or the on-call infectious disease physician will alert the Lab by phone (661-326-2442) of a suspected Ebola patient ("Code 300"), including patient name, date-of-birth, MRN and location.  Once notification is received in the Lab, Lab personnel on duty will initiate notification of key lab personnel.  Lab Test Availability for EVD Patients:  Due to the hazardous nature of EVD infections, the Laboratory will offer a limited menu of tests available for suspected patients: o Sendout for Los Angeles County Public Health Department:

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