Hospital Emergency Drill Prepares For Possibility Of Ebola At Detroit Metro Airport

DEARBORN (WWJ) - A local hospital is conducting an emergency drill Wednesday that focuses on the Ebola virus.

John Cargill, Trauma and Emergency Management Coordinator at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, explained the drill scenario involves Detroit Metro Airport, where a passenger suspected of having Ebola has thrown up on other travelers.

"In the event of any traveler injury or illness, including suspected communicable diseases, passengers are brought to our hospital, being the most approximal hospital — the closest one — for evaluation," Cargill said.

The two-hour drill involves over 20 "patients." Cargill said they will be stripped of their clothing and decontaminated, before being separated from the general public.

"We will use our portable, inflatable decontamination tents," Cargill said. "We will process patients through and separate them according to the level of illness probability, which direction they are going to go — whether it's hospitalization, public health department, or the Centers for Disease Control."

The local drill comes as the CDC has released a statement saying on the morning of Oc. 14, the second healthcare worker in Texas who tested positive for Ebola traveled by air on the day before she reported symptoms. Because of the proximity in time between the flight and first report of illness, the CDC is now contacting passengers who flew on Frontier Airlines flight 1143 from Cleveland to Dallas.

Health officials are asking all 132 passengers to call a special hotline and speak with a healthcare worker.

According to the CDC, the healthcare worker exhibited no signs or symptoms of illness while on the flight.

Get more coverage of the Ebola situation in north Texas from our sister site, CBS Dallas, HERE.