Medical personnel from the Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital (BAACH) along with the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDCP) recently participated in a Highly Infectious Disease Full Scale Exercise on March 31, 2015.
The exercise provided Republic of Korea (ROK) and US interagency and military participants training on responding to a simulated Ebola case.
The focus of the exercise was to improve the ROK-US Alliance's ability to identify, respond and transport a simulated Ebola patient by employing a whole-of-government approach through bilateral cooperative engagements.
Although the scenario for the exercise was Ebola, the lessons learned were applicable for other emerging events with highly infectious agents.
Volunteering to serve as the suspected patient, Staff Sgt. Alfonso Bernall-Stevens, the 121st Combat Support Hospital integration platoon sergeant said, "I learned a lot about Ebola and was surprised at all the agencies that got involved in this exercise. It took a lot of effort and personnel to get one person isolated. The emergency room staff has been training up to this and all the red flags were raised when I processed through the screening room of the ER. They donned their preventative posture equipment and isolated me to minimize contact."
Senior medic and emergency room Non Commissioned Officer in Charge, Staff Sgt. Kyle Roberts has been training up his staff to identify patients with symptoms of a highly infectious disease and on how to screen patients, isolate them and limit staff exposure.
"Whenever we get a suspected case, we contact the Korean Center for Disease Control who contacts a ROK Army hospital that has the capabilities to test and treat patients," said Roberts.
During the exercise, Bernall-Stevens said that he had no fears with the language barrier. "The Korean medical staff and Capital Hospital immediately placed me in a negative pressure isolation room and explained the entire process to me along the way. They made me feel comfortable about the whole process."
Interagency coordination and participation from both the ROK and U.S. was exercised during the Highly Infectious Disease Full Scale Exercise.
There was participation from KCDCP, public health centers from Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and Bundang-gu, Gyeonggi Province, ROK Armed Forces Medical Command, Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital and U.S. Forces Korea.
"You never know what you get here at the emergency room," said Roberts. "Anyone can come in here at any moment of time. We are the starting point of the hospital and we have to be ready to handle anything. Being prepared is our number one thing. We wanted to make sure that the people in the community feel comfortable now. After this exercise, we have proved that we can properly isolate the patient, and transport that patient to another location to receive care without exposing anyone else. "
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