Hospitals undertake clinical drills on Ebola preparedness

Rwandan hospitals are carrying out clinical drills for the management and treatment of suspected Ebola cases and patients as part of the country’s preparedness and response plan in case of an outbreak. So far, Rwanda has stepped up the precautions, after its northern neighbour Uganda confirmed an Ebola outbreak in five districts since September. According to Ugandan officials, 19 people have died, out of 58 who tested positive for the Ebola virus. Mubende and Kassanda, two out of five districts with Ebola cases in Uganda have been placed under lockdown and a curfew is enforced. Although no case of Ebola has been recorded in Rwanda, officials say medics should prepare just in case. In one of the exercises at King Faisal Hospital on Monday, October 17, medics in protective gear rehearsed the Ebola treatment procedure, from the reception of a suspected case and testing to isolation and referral to a special treatment centre, where the cases are handled. They staged a simulated response to a positive case, exhausting all the process. “We are assessing the level of preparedness of our hospital in case we receive an Ebola patient,” said Immaculate Kambutse, a medical doctor at King Faisal Hospital. “Our drills have shown us that we are well prepared in terms of the healthcare workers and equipment used in response to Ebola cases and this is according to our country’s recommendations as well as those of the World Health Organisation.” In a bid to contain a possible Ebola outbreak in Rwanda, people arriving from Uganda are screened, both at border posts and at Kigali International Airport. People who test positive for Ebola will be transferred to an Ebola treatment centre at Nyamata Hospital in Bugesera District. Testing sites for Ebola have been opened in major hospitals across the country. Frontline workers across the country are being trained on how to respond to suspected cases of the highly contagious Ebola virus. “These exercises are some of the major preparations we carry out in anticipation of an Ebola outbreak. We look at our staff across the country both in private and public hospitals,” Dr. Menelas Nkeshimana, who is in charge of Ebola case management, said. “We also look at the space where patients will be treated. We assess the communication system between different institutions. We ask people to take precautions and follow up on the information that is shared by officials.”

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Hospitals undertake clinical drills on Ebola preparedness