Disease protocols in place for area

The news is full of statistics and exhaustive coverage of the new virus, 2019 novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19.
Chase County health officials are working closely together and under the ongoing guidance of Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department (SWNPHD) in McCook, Nebraska Plains Healthcare Coalition (NPHC), Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) in Omaha and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Healthcare lead players
Kay Schmidt works at Chase County Community Hospital (CCCH) as the quality improvement and infection prevention coordinator.
There are detailed protocols in place for the hospital and both clinics to follow, and safety training on procedures to prepare for any incidences of highly infectious diseases and the presence of high consequence pathogens, Schmidt said.
“Last fall, the hospital held a surprise drill on highly infectious patients where the Incident Command System (ICS) was activated, and staff trained on it,” she said.
ICS is a standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies can be effective.

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