Ebola response plan

The Greenville Health System has developed plans to help manage Ebola patients both at GHS hospitals, such as Oconee Memorial, and throughout the Upstate as part of a statewide regional referral system. More details about the regional system are to be released later this week. GHS officials say they already had extensive protocols in place to safely treat patients with communicable infectious diseases such as Ebola, but those protocols were significantly strengthened in the wake of additional guidance from the CDC. All GHS employees, including those who joined the system from Oconee this month, are now required to complete computer-based training that provides an overview of the illness. Dr. Scott Sasser, chairman of the GHS emergency medicine department, said, “It’s important for everyone to remember that Ebola patients are only contagious when they’re symptomatic.” Ebola is only transmitted by contact with body fluids, such as vomit, blood or diarrhea or people who have the disease.