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City Council Set To Hold Hearing On Ebola Preparation In Philadelphia

By Mike Dunn

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia City Council this afternoon will hold what's expected to be a lengthy hearing on whether this city and region are prepared for the possibility of an Ebola outbreak.

Councilman Curtis Jones says today's hearing will include testimony from health care officials at local hospitals and the city itself:

"We are going to have someone from Emergency Management., someone from the airport, because of the travel implications here. We have several hospitals that will be here, along with the Health Commissioner."

Question number one -- does everyone follow the same procedures?

"The protocols aren't standard," says Jones. "They are from here to there and individually done. We have to have one standard. "What I want to hear out of the hearing is 'where are we in our preparedness as a city'?"

And the public, he says, needs to know what to do:

"If somebody walks in to Jefferson or University of Penn...there are supposed to be three hospitals that are equipped, but if everybody doesn't know it, and they walk in to a health center in my district, what happens then?"

Also expected to testify are members of the city's Liberian community to talk about relief efforts for Ebola victims in that country.

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