“ROBUST” plans are in place at South West Acute Hospital (SWAH) in the event of a patient presenting at the facility with symptoms of the ebola virus.

Medical Director for the Western Trust, Dr. Alan McKinney, told impartialreporter.com that staff at SWAH and Altnagelvin have been in the throes of training as a precautionary measure.

He explained that the impetus for training had been heightened in August when tests were carried out in Letterkenny after the death of a 44-year-old man from Donegal.

And he added that SWAH was in a particularly advantageous position with the availability of its decontamination and isolation unit in the Emergency Department.

“There is a slight difference between SWAH and Altnagelvin in that SWAH has a really nice decontamination and isolation unit. It’s a facility where we could keep a patient until diagnosis.

“Altnagelvin is a much older hospital and as such it doesn’t have that kind of facility immediately available to us.” Training for staff has focused on the use of protective equipment as well as the pathways for a patient and management of their family.

Dr. McKinney said a huge quantity of protective suits had been acquired by the Trust.

He added too, that staff have had to undergo face-fit testing to ensure each mask protects them from contamination.

“I couldn’t even tell you how many suits have been acquired.

“But the recommendations are that the suits remain protective for up to about an hour. So if you are in contact with patient longer than that, then you need to change.

“It’s quite a big process and we have a big stock, with various sizes too.” Dr. McKinney said a lot of the training had been based around making sure staff know how to put protective equipment on and take it off correctly.

“Staff will be most at risk of being contaminated when they take off these garments,” he explained.

“So there has been a lot of training about technique of removing this clothing without touching the outside of the garments.

“That is not an easy task when you consider it,” he added.

The Medical Director with the responsibility for infection control in the Western Trust said he was “reasonably confident” both hospitals could cope with an ebola case.

“We are as prepared as we need to be,” he said.

“The public should be reassured that there is no potential for an ebola epidemic here, but we do have to take this seriously.

“And SWAH staff have very robust plans in place to look after a patient presenting with symptoms of the elbola virus.”