Preparing a community hospital to manage work-related exposures to infectious agents in biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories

Preparing a community hospital to manage work-related exposures to infectious agents in biosafety level 3 and 4 laboratories

Construction of new BioSafety Level (BSL) 3 and 4 laboratories has raised concerns regarding provision of care to exposed workers because of healthcare worker (HCW) unfamiliarity with precautions required. When the National Institutes of Health began construction of a new BSL-4 laboratory in Hamilto...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 373 - 378
Main Authors: RISI, G.F, BLOOM, M.E, HOE, N.P, ARMINIO, T, CARLSON, P, POWERS, T, FELDMANN, H, WILSON, D
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01-03-2010
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Subjects:
Accidents, Occupational
Biological and medical sciences
Biosafety
biosafety level
Communicable Disease Control
community hospital
Containment of Biohazards
curriculum
Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control
Hospitals, Community
Humans
Infection Control - methods
Inservice Training
Laboratories
Lassa fever
Medical Laboratory Personnel - education
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Montana
occupational exposure
Personnel, Hospital - education
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Viral hemorrhagic fevers
viruses
Workforce
Nosocomial infection
General hospital
Yersinia
Risk
Laboratory
Personnel
Virus
Occupational environment
Bacteria
Hospital
Risk management
Formation
Hygiene
Enterobacteriaceae
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Summary:Construction of new BioSafety Level (BSL) 3 and 4 laboratories has raised concerns regarding provision of care to exposed workers because of healthcare worker (HCW) unfamiliarity with precautions required. When the National Institutes of Health began construction of a new BSL-4 laboratory in Hamilton, Montana, USA, in 2005, they contracted with St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Montana, for care of those exposed. A care and isolation unit is described. We developed a training program for HCWs that emphasized the optimal use of barrier precautions and used pathogen-specific modules and simulations with mannequins and fluorescent liquids that represented infectious body fluids. The facility and training led to increased willingness among HCWs to care for patients with all types of communicable diseases. This model may be useful for other hospitals, whether they support a BSL-4 facility, are in the proximity of a BSL-3 facility, or are interested in upgrading their facilities to prepare for exotic and novel infectious diseases.
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ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1603.091485