With the threat of an Ebola epidemic catching the attention of the world last month, area hospitals are working to build protocols that could help anyone should they become infected.

Locally, Dr. David Hochhauser, chairman and director of the department of emergency services at Blue Mountain Health System, is at the forefront when it comes to Ebola preparedness.Recently, he spoke with officials from more than 50 hospitals who are part of the EmCare network, a nationwide health care organization that contracts with hospitals to provide medical and emergency services. Hochhauser has decades of experience in the medical world and has done extensive research on clinical trials in immunology and Ebola."As part of our monthly discussion with site medical directors, we spoke about community hospital responses to Ebola and what the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is recommending," Hochhauser said.The group looked at 14 areas of preparation and came up with a critical response plan based on research from the University of Nebraska. The plan, which was put in place Oct. 17, closely mirrors the CDC's health care facility guidelines that were released Oct. 20."The most important thing was to recognize that we are dealing with one of the highest biosafety issues known to man," he said.Items in the plan included developing a hazardous emergency response team or hospital emergency response team; identifying stakeholders and a chain of command; complete intense educational training of administrations on policies and procedures; and develop local policies and procedures for staff using CDC guidelines on how to screen possible Ebola cases.Hochhauser highlighted one area of the plan that was unique to Blue Mountain Health System a clinical containment center.A patient identified as a possible Ebola case would be isolated in the clinical containment center, which is based on models from around the country.The clinical containment center, Hochhauser said, is designed with isolation rooms so that patients could be monitored with minimal exposure to hospital staff or other patients.In addition to protocols and a containment center being set up, Hochhauser said the group is working on creating safe transport of patients to centers who are trained in Ebola treatment."We want to let the community know there is hope and help here," Hochhauser said. "We already have initiatives in place to train the staff on personal protective equipment based on the University of Nebraska's model. "We are ready to go."Hochhauser commended Marsha Resch, director of the emergency room; Toby Goida, patient care coordinator in the emergency room; and Vincent Hunsicker, mechanic, maintenance and facilities for their part on the hospital emergency response team in making sure the staff is as educated as possible.Goida and Hunsicker were part of a rigorous eight-day training at the Department of Homeland Security on decontamination and proper use of equipment to stop health care officials from becoming infected.Hope on the horizon?Hochhauser said a vaccine is currently in trials in the United States.According to the National Institutes of Health, one vaccine is currently in early-stage trials on humans. That vaccine was co-developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and GlaxoSmithKline.Other clinical trials for experimental Ebola vaccines are occuring in Canada, and Swiss authorities recently approved the testing of an experimental vaccine in Zurich."It's clear to me that this is a disease we could cure," Hochhauser said. "The Ebola virus has the capabilities of vaccine development and we're hoping for approval (of a vaccine) by the end of the year. That would be a tremendous breakthrough."In the meantime though, people who are sick with any illness should not worry about going to a hospital for fear of contracting Ebola."We're here to help. That is why we have procedures in place," he said. "Health care workers are working very hard to provide proper care so that we won't bring anything back into the community."