Rebecca Jackman
THE Western Cape is ready for a potential case of Ebola, with the training of specialist doctors, nurses, and emergency services, supplies of protective clothing, and a four-bed isolation ward at Tygerberg Hospital.
Health MEC Theuns Botha said: “I hope we will not have any Ebola, but we’ve got to prepare ourselves in case it does happen.”
It was important not to panic, to have highly trained specialists and to have a comprehensive plan for Tygerberg Hospital as well as a “significant plan of action” externally. “It’s about preparing ourselves as well as possible,” Botha said.
Marina Aucamp is one of four infection control practitioners trained to run the isolation ward in the event that a patient is brought there.
She said the handling of infection control was part of her day to day job, so Ebola was “just an add-on”.
She said the risk was high with a “formidable disease” like Ebola, but they had practised, trained and run through possible scenarios – including the possibility of doing an emergency Caesarean on a pregnant woman with Ebola.
“It’s controlled here with everything in place. It’s a managed risk, so we are confident,” Aucamp said.
Infectious disease specialist Jantjie Taljaard said if a single case was identified, the person would be assessed swiftly and once it had been determined that he or she had Ebola, would be safely taken to the isolation ward.
The designated ward at Tygerberg Hospital had been in place since the 1990s when the hospital dealt with an outbreak of Congo fever.
The main aim, he said, was preventing secondary cases while treating the patient as best as possible.
The chief executive of Tygerberg Hospital, Dimitri Erasmus, said if a case was brought in at any moment, they would be ready.
Staff were on standby 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a roster of on-call staff at any time.
Standby staff were also on hand if on-call staff could not be reached.