Commentary: Hospital, others were ready for coronavirus
On the evening of Jan. 20 we learned that we would be caring for the first patient in the U.S. infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus, now called COVID-19.
Thanks to the preparation of Providence Medical Group clinic staff, Providence Regional Medical Center Everett hospital staff, the Snohomish Health District and coordination with Snohomish County Emergency Medical Services, we were able to safely and effectively screen, identify, isolate, test, transport and treat this patient with minimal exposure to other members of our community, swiftly and with the deepest compassion and care for the patient.
This remarkable feat was made possible due in large part to ongoing training in managing these types of highly infectious agents, which began with the ebola scare in 2014. In fact, many of these partners had just gathered on Jan. 2 to practice for a scenario such as this.
When the patient first arrived at the outpatient clinic, he quickly identified his recent travel history and correctly considered his flu-like symptoms to be consistent with reports of coronavirus that were beginning to emerge from Wuhan, China. Our staff immediately contacted the Washington State Department of Health and the Health District, whose personnel were readily available and extremely helpful in connecting with experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, who were already closely monitoring the outbreak in central China.
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