Officials from the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) are expected to arrive in T&T on November 21 to carry out an inspection of the Ebola isolation unit at Caura Hospital. So said Minister of Health Dr Fuad Khan following a tour of the $250,000 facility yesterday. The unit has a sterilisation room at the entrance where medical workers will get dressed in hazmat outfits. There is a plastic covered entrance leading to the white isolated rooms, each about the size of a small bedroom, equipped with a bed, washroom and a small table.
There is also a separate room that leads to the back of the building where health workers are sanitised before undressing. The minister also revealed that hazmat suits, which cost US$20,000 each, were waiting to be cleared. “These are difficult suits to wear. It takes 45 minutes to put on and 45 minutes to take off after sterilisation. There is already a lot of training done and that training will continue with these suits which are reusable,” he added.
There are four beds at the unit, which each room having its own air-conditioning unit, washroom and bathroom facility. "There are four persons assigned to this unit and all are senior people,” the minister said. He said everyone would be trained to deal with Ebola patients but for now only those who had to deal with Ebola patients would be trained. “All senior levels will be involved because we can't afford any mishaps," he added.
Khan noted that a two-bed isolation station would be added soon and would be used for higher level cases should there be any. He, however, said he believed the virus would not reach T&T shores.
If there were no cases of Ebola or suspected Ebola, Khan assured the unit would not be a white elephant but would be used. He said two consultants from Nigeria and Ghana would come to T&T and give the necessary training rather than send a team to west Africa. On Saturday, Public Service Association president Watson Duke led a protest outside the facility, saying the health sector was not ready to deal with the Ebola virus since workers lacked the necessary training and equipment.