Infection Control and Triage for Serious Communicable Diseases
To: Hospital Administrators
The Washington State Department of Health and Washington State Hospital Association have issued a letter detailing recommendations for procedures and triage for serious communicable diseases, especially Ebola virus disease (EVD).
The purpose of this letter is to ask you to protect your health care workers and patients from infectious diseases in health care settings through the following steps:
- Review and ensure implementation of proper infection control procedures during all stages of the patient encounter (e.g., triage, initial evaluation, admission, transport, inpatient care, etc.).
- Review triage protocols for early identification to trigger appropriate infection control response.
- Ensure your staff know how to contact the appropriate public health authorities in your jurisdiction to assist with response activities.
- Take extra steps specifically for EVD.
More detailed information, including a healthcare facility preparedness checklist for Ebola virus disease, is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention EVD informational webpage.
If you have questions, please contact your local health jurisdiction, Marcia Goldoft at the Department of Health (marcia.goldoft@DOH.wa.gov), or Amber Theel at the Washington State Hospital Association (AmberT@wsha.org).
