Enterovirus

No doubt you've seen the news about the respiratory virus effecting much of the country. How does an ambulance service react to such news?

First, we assess the threat to our providers. It generally does not cause severe distress in adults. In fact, adults may only have mild symptoms. Although our providers may not be at risk we still need to think about their families.

To protect our providers and their families we need to know how the virus is transmitted. The CDC tells us that it is transmitted through direct contact and droplets from sneezing and coughing. We have stocked our ambulances with extra face masks, gowns and eye protection to keep everyone safe. We also reminded our providers that hand washing is one of the most effective means of preventing disease transmission.

After we have made sure that we remain safe we next deal with preparations for extra patients. To treat kids in respiratory distress we may administer oxygen and/or a nebulized medication such as albuterol or ipratropium. We've checked our supplies and ordered more as needed. We don't expect a large influx of patient so we are not planning to have a second ambulance in service.

If this outbreak had more serious symptoms that put our providers at greater risk we would initiate our pandemic disease plan. This limits the size of crews and the number of providers that come in contact with sick patients. We would also limit public gatherings and group trainings at our building.

Don't hesitate to call 911 if you've got a wheezing child that you are concerned about. Our EMTs are well trained to deal with this emergency and can get treatment started well before arriving at the hospital.

For more information check out the CDC's page on Enterovirus D68.