Philadelphia Hospitals, Agencies Stand Ready For Ebola
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The head of Emergency Management in Philadelphia says officials remain vigilant about the threat of Ebola and are prepared to mobilize should that dangerous virus appear in this region.
"Ebola is not an imminent threat here," says Samantha Phillips, director of Emergency Management in Philadelphia.
She says city officials, area hospitals and other groups have been holding frequent conference calls in recent weeks about the Ebola threat, and she believes should the virus appear here, they'll be ready.
"We do have a great system here," Phillips says. "We've worked really hard over the past few years, not only with infectious disease, but lots of other hazards. And we just need to remember those protocols, take this in stride, and we'll be able to appropriately manage this."
Phillips says the city's emergency operations center stands at the ready.
"If needed, we'll ramp up operations if it gets to that point," she says. " We do have the emergency operations center. And activation of that facility should not come at any sort of alarm. It's just to provide enhanced coordination for city agencies."
And the city's health commissioner, Dr. James Buehler, says they have not selected a single hospital to be the region's primary location to receive any Ebola victims.
"For our purposes, we have not taken that step," he says. "This has been a very active topic of conversation within the hospital network here. But we have not taken that step yet -- and I can't say that we will -- of making those designations."
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