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Lansing Fire Chief Scott Purcell told Fire Commissioners Tuesday that his department is preparing for possible ebola emergencies.  14 Lansing EMTs have trained in handing calls with possible ebola victims so far, and the department has procured special suits to protect emergency responders from being infected.

"In the last couple of weeks EMS people have been busy writing an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), or guidelines for ebola response that was required by the State Department of Health," Purcell said.  "We've done that.  We offered the mandated training to everybody last Thursday.  We also had to order five sets of protective suits that was required on the list of equipment."

The New York Department of Health Web site explains, "Ebola is a severe, often fatal disease that affects humans and some animals (monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees). It is caused by the Ebola virus.  Ebola was first discovered in 1976 in Africa, near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Currently, there is a large Ebola outbreak in three West African countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone."

Purcell says mandated emergency responder training includes showing proficiency in putting on and safely take off the protective suits.  The suits are made of a material similar to Tyvek, and include face shields and gloves.  They come in sets of four different sizes to fit different responders, starting with medium and going to double extra large.  One set will be used for required monthly training.  Two sets will be on a rescue vehicle, and the remaining two will be stored for backup and future use.

"With the suits on you're supposed to be able to have contact with the patient," Purcell said.  "The State said that as long as you don't get an infected person't bodily fluids on it you should be fine.  As of right now with the County Health Department and the Cayuga Medical Center Emergency Room and bangs Ambulance, the chances of Lansing Rescue being on a call for a possible ebola case is slim to none.  They don't want a lot of people there."

911 dispatchers have been given questions to ask to try to ascertain beforehand whether a call involves ebola.

"If you call up and say a relative is not feeling well and has been throwing up they're supposed to ask whether he has been outside the country, and where has he been?" Purcell told the commissioners.  "Obviously you don't always get the correct information."

Another concern is that a potential ebola victim might come in contact with an emergency response vehicle, or potentially throw up on one.  Purcell told the commissioners that a one to one Clorox to water solution would sanitize fire equipment touched by possible ebola victims, but it is not likely they would get that close to Lansing equipment.

"If we ended up going to a call like that and we knew we were going to a call like that, the simple solution would be that you'd go deal with the patient and call someone else to come get the vehicle," he said.  "We wouldn't go back to the Fire Station with the vehicle. We'd go with Bangs to the hospital and they would decontaminate us there."

Lansing Fire Department members Joe Lisi (a state fire instructor) and Kim Sweeney (who has state fire instructor training) went for 'trainer training' and are now conducting the training for other members of the department.  Tracy Lisi, who heads Lansing's EMTs, is composing the SOP, a Powerpoint presentation and paperwork the State requires.

Purcell underscored the importance of preventing emergency responder contagion.  He noted that if a responder is contaminated they will be quarantined for 21 days, which is especially problematic for Lansing's volunteers who make their living at other jobs.

"There are questions of whether you are getting paid, whether you get workman's comp or you're on your own for the next three weeks," he noted.  "You're sitting at home, not making any money.  Even when paid people at Bangs or the City Fire Department are quarantined -- they don't know whether they're going to be paid.  There are a lot of questions."

The department is taking the threat dead seriously even though the chance of being faced with responding to an ebola case is remote in Lansing.  Purcell said that making a mistake in responding to such a case could impact volunteer responder's family as well as themselves.

"The last thing you want to do is go on a call like that and get exposed," Purcell added.  "They quarantine you and tell you to go home and not leave the house, and check your temperature.  Well, now you expose your family, too."

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