Sleeping Cobra
TB Fanatic
6:34 p.m. PDT October 10, 2014
KENT, Wash. -- This weekend a 9-1-1 operator at the ValleyCom 9-1-1 Center in Kent took a medic call that triggered an Ebola alert system to first responders and others.
The husband of a sick woman called 9-1-1 for help. The operator asked the usual questions about pain, temperature, vomiting, etc.
Because of a new directive that took affect two weeks ago, the operator was listening closely for symptoms of Ebola and she heard them all. So she asked the big one: "Has she travelled recently?"
When the caller said, "Yes, to the Congo," the system was triggered.
Medics were warned to suit up for a possible Ebola patient and the alert went right up the chain.
The medics were able to discount the possibility of Ebola without the need of blood tests, so the alert was cancelled. But the system worked exactly as it should. And while few experts expect many Ebola cases in the U.S., they do expect many false alarms.
The system is designed to identify those quickly to avoid expensive and tense responses.
http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/kent/2014/10/10/911-ebola-system-first-responders/17065117/
KENT, Wash. -- This weekend a 9-1-1 operator at the ValleyCom 9-1-1 Center in Kent took a medic call that triggered an Ebola alert system to first responders and others.
The husband of a sick woman called 9-1-1 for help. The operator asked the usual questions about pain, temperature, vomiting, etc.
Because of a new directive that took affect two weeks ago, the operator was listening closely for symptoms of Ebola and she heard them all. So she asked the big one: "Has she travelled recently?"
When the caller said, "Yes, to the Congo," the system was triggered.
Medics were warned to suit up for a possible Ebola patient and the alert went right up the chain.
The medics were able to discount the possibility of Ebola without the need of blood tests, so the alert was cancelled. But the system worked exactly as it should. And while few experts expect many Ebola cases in the U.S., they do expect many false alarms.
The system is designed to identify those quickly to avoid expensive and tense responses.
http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/kent/2014/10/10/911-ebola-system-first-responders/17065117/
Last edited:
