Health workers ill-prepared for Ebola are 'recipe for disaster'

A former Winnipeg expert on patient health care safetywarns the Ebola fight could implode if people aren't used to working together.

Health care workersneed to be better organized so they are more confident and prepared, said Darrell Horn, who investigated critical incidents involving patients when he was with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

"They are dealing with a potential crisis situation with potential devastating results in a very adhocmanner. They haven't felt like they have been fundamentally prepared," said Horn, who isnow asystem safety adviser forHealthcareSystem Safety and Accountability, a Hamilton-based consulting group focused on patientsafety.

"We can't pretend we're not part of the world community. No one expected it to happen in Texas, no one expected it to happen in Spain. It comes to you when it comes to you and it's not going to be a matter of choice."

It's clear from the second case of Ebola involving a health care worker in the U.S. that more training is needed even to put on and take off protective gear,he said.

• Ebola outbreak: Dallas nurse took Frontier Airlines flight before becoming ill

TheDallas hospital worker tested positive on Wednesday afterprovidingcare for the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S.

"Pilots don't wait for the red light to come on to learn how to manage an engine failure," Horn said.

"You simulate and you drill, drill, drill, and you drill again. And you keep that up on a recurrent regular basis to make sure that when the call comes and the day the red light comes on that you're ready to go.

"If the work teams aren't organized properly, if they aren't thoroughly familiar with the equipment, how to don and doff the protective gear they are required to deal with you need to practice that," he added."Unfamiliar procedures, unfamiliar equipment, and perhaps in the case of concern with the response to something like a potential Ebola patient, maybe a little bit of panic.

"Frankly, it's a recipe for disaster.We have people on the front line in a very vulnerable position [and] in every case here we are talking about lives at stake.

"We have to do it right the first time.

Horn'scomments came after the Manitoba Nurses Union said itsfront-linenurses don't feel prepared to handle a possible case of Ebola in the province.

WRHAresponds to nurses' concerns

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority admitted Thursdayit has not done a good job keeping nurses in the loop about Ebola preparedness and it pledged to do better.

• WRHA admits communication breakdown with nurses over Ebola preps

WRHA spokesperson Helen Clark admitted there was a communication breakdown with nurses after the union made its concerns public this week, just days after Winnipeg firefighters voiced the same fears they did not feel prepared to deal with a potential case of the lethal virus.

• City douses firefighters' flame of concern over Ebola preps

"We're welcoming their feedback on what other strategies we can use in addition to what we are doing now," she said. "And we have committed to meeting with them on a weekly basis and giving them regular updates."

The WRHA and the Manitoba Nurses Union met Thursday and discussed an emergency plan.

"We've got equipment in all of our emergency departments in Winnipeg and we are looking at making sure every emergency department, whether inside or outside of Winnipeg, has enough to be able to respond if a case presents," Clark said.

Clark said more than 400 health care workers so far have been trained to deal with Ebola.

The Manitoba Nurses Union said its concerns over Ebola preparedness have been addressed.