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In Pa., N.J., officials shore up emergency plans

In counties across the Philadelphia region, officials are casting a watchful eye on the Ebola outbreak that has already claimed one life in Texas.

Thomas J. McGarrigle, chairman of the Delaware County Council, address the media about spearheading an Ebola and Infectious Disease Task Force to disseminate information and promote heightened awareness in Morton, Pa., on Tuesday, October 14,  2014. ( RON CORTES / Staff Photographer )
Thomas J. McGarrigle, chairman of the Delaware County Council, address the media about spearheading an Ebola and Infectious Disease Task Force to disseminate information and promote heightened awareness in Morton, Pa., on Tuesday, October 14, 2014. ( RON CORTES / Staff Photographer )Read more

In counties across the Philadelphia region, officials are casting a watchful eye on the Ebola outbreak that has already claimed one life in Texas.

Representatives from Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, and Chester Counties, as well as two South Jersey counties, said Tuesday that they were keeping in close contact with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and area hospitals.

"A contagious virus is only a plane ride away," Delaware County Council Chairman Tom McGarrigle told reporters after the first meeting of a county task force on Ebola and infectious diseases. "We don't want to create a panic here, but we do want to create a healthy awareness."

George Avetian, Delaware County's senior medical adviser, said the meeting of elected officials, health-care providers, and law enforcement officers focused on setting criteria for screening for Ebola and identifying risks.

If a patient calls a health-care provider or 911, Avetian said, county responders have a list of questions: Does the patient have a fever of more than 101.5 degrees? Are there additional symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and unexplained bleeding? Has the patient recently had exposure to anyone from West Africa?

If needed, Avetian said, emergency workers are ready to act. But preparing for Ebola is "an evolving process," he said, and officials are working to identify which hospitals can care for Ebola patients.

Montgomery County has responded to about two dozen inquiries from schools, day-care facilities, and other community organizations, county spokesman Frank Custer said. Ebola information is posted on its website, health department workers are forwarding updates to hospitals and municipal leaders, and alerts would be sent "as needed" on the county's social media and public alert systems.

After a Texas nurse became infected from contact with the one U.S. Ebola patient who later died, county public safety staff started reviewing which protective gear should be used, and how to appropriately take it on and off, Custer said. "In-services with hands-on training will be critical right now for both hospitals and EMS," he wrote in an e-mail.

In Chester County, spokeswoman Rebecca Brain said the Health Department participates in regular conference calls with the CDC and has shared information with municipalities.

Bucks County health director David Damsker said his department had "gotten a few calls from concerned people, but not too many." Damsker said he was regularly speaking with hospitals, sharing information with schools, and coordinating response plans.

Gloucester County officials have planned a meeting on the topic Monday for representatives from county departments and local hospitals, according to Tamarisk Jones, director of the Gloucester County Department of Health, Senior and Disability Services. "We are all talking and convening and trying to get prepared - as prepared as possible," Jones said.

Burlington County's health officer, Holly Funkhouser, has "had meetings with all parties that would be taking precautions" in an outbreak, including hospitals, and the sheriff and medical examiner's offices, county spokesman Eric Arpert said.

Avetian, Delaware County's medical adviser, said he had met with multicultural groups as part of his regular outreach program and plans to meet later this month with members of the county's Liberian community.

As to the probability that Ebola could reach the Philadelphia area, he echoed what others said. "I hope it's zero," Avetian said. But, he added, "we have to be prepared."