Hospitals around the country are already getting ample opportunities to test their infection control procedures due to a growing number of false alarms. (Reuters) SummaryPublic hospitals in New York City are concerned enough about Ebola... Related ArticlesFederal officials cast doubt on Ebola travel banExperimental Ebola treatments at a glanceBarack Obama calls for greater foreign help against EbolaMayor: New York City could handle Ebola outbreak Public hospitals in New York City are concerned enough about Ebola that they've secretly been sending actors with mock symptoms into emergency rooms to test how good the triage staff is at identifying and isolating possible cases.
A small hospital in the Ohio countryside has hung up signs, imploring patients to let nurses know immediately if they have traveled recently to West Africa.
And across the U.S., one of the nation's largest ambulance companies has put together step-by-step instructions on how to wrap the interior of a rig with plastic sheeting while transporting a patient.
Ebola has yet to infect a single person on U.S. soil - the one confirmed case here involves a Liberian man who contracted the virus in his West African country. But health care providers are worried enough that they are taking a wide variety of precautions.
It isn't yet clear whether those preparations are overkill, or not nearly enough. But medical officials and health experts say that, at the very least, the scare is giving them a chance to reinforce and test infection control procedures.
''The attention has been, in a sad way, very helpful,'' said Dr. Richard Wenzel, an epidemiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University and a former president of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.
He said even small hospitals far from hubs of international travel should be reviewing their protocols and screening questions now, and potentially buying protective equipment such as face masks and protective suits, to avoid a repeat of the problems that occurred at a hospital in Dallas, where the Liberian man with Ebola was sent home - only to be readmitted two days later.
''The debacle in Texas should stimulate improved awareness and responses,'' Wenzel said.
Hospitals around the country are already getting ample opportunities to test their infection control procedures due to a growing number of false alarms.
In New York, 24 patients have been put into isolation over the past eight weeks in city-owned hospitals because of fears they might have Ebola, according to Dr. Ross Wilson, the chief medical officer at the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
None had the disease (some patients had malaria and one had typhoid), but Wilson said the point has been to isolate possible cases quickly so there is no chance for the virus to spread.
''We're taking this very seriously,'' he said.
Some staff has been retrained on how
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