Ebola Virus Resources

Although news of the Ebola outbreak has dissipated a bit in the last week or so and that long term care centers are not regarded as “first receivers” for patient care, we wanted to ensure that our members were aware of the vast resources and guidance available on the CDC’s website concerning the Ebola virus.  Many public health departments and local hospitals have been working tirelessly to gear up for any potential signs of Ebola in Indiana, and long term care has been tacitly aware of those preparations but not necessarily directly involved.

•    CDC

The CDC’s Ebola Virus Disease website is at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/index.html and contains a number of helpful topics and infographics that can be printed and used with your staff.  Specific guidance for healthcare workers, which focuses on Emergency Departments, Ambulatory Care, Hospitals, Medical Transports and Labs can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/index.html.  While the focus are on those acute care settings, the infographics and treatment algorithms may be helpful for you to review.  At the bottom of the healthcare worker’s guidance page are a series of PDFs discussing preparedness in healthcare settings.

In particular, documents that discuss Ebola Basics, a infographic on the differences between Ebola and Flu, and information about the West Africa breakout are particularly helpful in answering questions from residents, families or the general public.

•    ISDH

In addition, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) has re-posted CDC resources on its website, but also has opened a call center to handle question from the public and providers concerning the outbreak. The call center number is 877-826-0011 (hearing impaired 888-561-0044).  Health representatives are available to answer questions regarding symptoms, screening and diagnosis of Ebola. It is open 24 hours.   The ISDH just updated it’s quick factsheet on Ebola on Nov. 10, 2014.

For the ISDH website click here:  http://www.in.gov/isdh/26447.htm. 

•    Individual Legal Counsel

Several concerns have been raised about staff or visitor restrictions due to travel to West Africa or contact with persons that have traveled to West Africa.  It is important to remember that Ebola is only spread through close contact with those that are infected via blood or bodily fluids.  Neither the CDC nor the ISDH are recommending avoidance of contact with people that have recently traveled to West Africa unless they have symptoms of the disease, in which case that person should be referred to their personal health care provider or a hospital emergency room.

There are a host of laws that must be considered in the employment context that govern how employers can, or more accurately cannot, screen employees.  For example, an employer would not be correct to refuse to hire or prohibit an employee from coming to work just because they recently traveled to West Africa or is of West African decent as this could be a discriminatory practice banned by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Laws governing medical examinations of employees, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act should also be considered if medical examinations of employees are desired.   Also, if your facility is covered by FMLA, how a facility handles any mandatory leave requires specific analysis to minimize risk to the employer.  Visitor restrictions also need to be carefully considered in the context of resident rights both the resident being visited and the protection of all other residents in the facility.  Special consideration for the patients within nursing facilities and regulatory requirements for nursing facilities do make some of these challenges more straight forward to handle, but individual legal counsel should be sought to determine your facility’s compliance with applicable law.