Ebola threat: Thunder Bay EMS may put thermometers in toolkits

Superior Morning3:02Norm Gale - Ebola Preparedness

Norm Gale, Chief of Emergency Medical Services says current procedures for paramedics responding to emergency calls has been largely influenced by the SARS epidemic in Ontario in 2003.

Thunder Bay's Chief of Emergency Services says he's been told to expect new guidelines from the Ministry of Health and Public Health Ontario on how paramedics should handle possible Ebola patients.

Norm Gale said the new protocol will include a more specific list of screening questions.

“For example, have you been to Africa lately? Once we receive that, we'll provide that to our paramedics and our paramedics will begin asking that question,” he said.

“However, the protocols and the precautions I don't expect will change substantially.”

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Gale said paramedics currently travel with gloves, masks, face shields, gowns and special respirators to help protect them from infectious diseases.

"We recall SARS well, and of course paramedics on the very, very front line of SARS were impacted, and our protocols were impacted,” he said.

“Our infection control procedures that we utilize today are informed largely by our SARS experience, but also by evidence and current medical practice."

Gale added paramedics are cautious around all infectious diseases.

"It's business as usual, but business as usual includes a high level of vigilance and diligence and infectious control practices."

He noted Superior North Emergency Medical Services may issue thermometers to paramedics, as part of the evolving protocol for dealing with possible Ebola cases in Thunder Bay.

Thermometers would help paramedics be more precise at measuring a fever, which is a symptom of Ebola.

Gale said said they currently use a variety of other tools to assess someone's temperature.

“The best way for paramedics in the field to determine whether someone has a temperature is to feel the skin, and to look at other signs and symptoms.  Thermometers can be helpful, and they can be one piece of the tool kit to make that determination, and that's why we're going to issue them.”

So far, more than 8,900 people have been infected and more than 4,400 have died, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Earlier this week, federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose announced that phase one clinical trials of the Ebola vaccine VSV-EBOV, which was developed at the Public Health of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory, will begin on a small group of healthy people to assess its safety, determine the appropriate dosage and identify any side effects.