New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that they would be conducting surprise drills at eight hospitals chosen to take care of Ebola patients.
The eight hospitals are Mount Sinai Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Bellevue Hospital Center, Montefiore Medical Center, North Shore-LIJ Health System, SUNY Upstate Medical University at Syracuse, University of Rochester Medical Center and Stony Brook University Hospital. These hospitals are not preparing the isolation units for Ebola cases, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"We are going to have eight identified hospitals that have intensive training and protocols, and they have already been identified as the hospitals that we would use if we needed them," Cuomo said. "We are preparing should the situation present itself, which we do not have any reason to believe is going to happen."
Aside from medical staffs, police, airport workers and Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees will also undergo training to identify the symptoms of the deadly disease and to respond appropriately. The governor is anticipating a case due to the high number of people arriving and leaving the state.
The intensive training is scheduled for Oct. 21 and will be facilitated by the Department of Health at New York City's Javits Center. After the training, the state will begin the series of surprise drills. These drills will not be confined to hospitals alone but will also be conducted at college campuses, subways and mass transit areas, Reuters reported.
The governor did not provide details of the how and when the drills will be conducted. Some of the passengers are already accustomed to seeing health workers in the subway wearing their protective gears but seeing transit workers wearing the same gears might cause alarm.
"A little anxiety can be healthy. But we have to watch what we say and how we say it, because panic is never productive," Cuomo said in an interview.
