In Washington, the local health care system is on high alert after the first case of Wuhan coronavirus was confirmed there last week. But it knows how to respond, thanks to recent measles outbreaks.
Tove Skaftun, the chief nursing officer for the Community Health Center of Snohomish County, points out a sign warning people who could have been exposed to the new coronavirus from China to identify themselves.Tove Skaftun, the chief nursing officer for the Community Health Center of Snohomish County, points out a sign warning people who could have been exposed to the new coronavirus from China to identify themselves.When the first U.S.
"The measles really kind of enlightened everybody about 'Wow, there are a lot of things out there that can be really contagious and can get you really sick, really fast,'"says Tove Skaftun, the chief nursing officer for the Community Health Center of Snohomish County.Skaftun says she's glad that last year's outbreak forced them to improve how they approach these situations.
"Coronaviruses are generally transmitted through sneezing, coughing and close contact with individuals, so those are the types of criteria we use to identify people at risk," saysShe says previous outbreaks and most recently the measles outbreak led to"a lot of preparation by our health care system partners around how to appropriately ... protect themselves from highly infectious pathogens.
Those include specialized gurneys to keep patients isolated while they're wheeled around the hospital, robots that can listen to patients' lungs and take blood pressure, and rooms with negative-pressure air flow so germs aren't circulated throughout the rest of the hospital. Skaftun says it's natural that some patients have been asking questions, but like other health providers in the area, she's not too concerned that the first U.S case happened to arrive in her county.
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