What New York Learned About Stopping Ebola From the Dallas Ebola Case

— -- When New York Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed a jittery public after the first Ebola patient in New York was diagnosed, he spoke of how much city and federal officials have learned about treating and stopping Ebola since the first Ebola-infected patient was diagnosed in Dallas last month.

“We also again learned from Dallas,” the mayor told reporters on Friday. “I think it’s clear that Dallas was in a disadvantageous situation at the very beginning of the process.”

When a New York doctor alerted officials that he might have Ebola Thursday, he set off a carefully calibrated response by the New York health officials designed to minimize the patient’s ability to infect others with the potentially deadly virus.

According to health officials, Dr. Craig Spencer, 33, was removed from his home by a specialized ambulance team designed to deal with hazardous material and was moved to Bellevue Hospital, which was designated by the state to treat Ebola patients, and once Spencer arrived he was immediately put into isolation.

The smooth transition from home to hospital was carefully rehearsed and practiced by New York health teams and seemed to contrast with how the nation’s first Ebola patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, was admitted.

Duncan, who was diagnosed and treated in Dallas, was initially sent home after arriving at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital with Ebola-like symptoms. Two days later Duncan returned in a regular ambulance with a fever and nausea.

In recent weeks Dallas and federal health officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been criticized for how they handled Duncan’s case. Two nurses became infected after treating him and Duncan’s family was initially told to remain in their home even though contaminated materials were inside.

The ambulance used to pick up and transport Duncan was not immediately pulled out of service, even though officials quickly suspected Duncan might have Ebola.

In the weeks since Duncan was diagnosed at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, New York officials said they have worked with the CDC to practice and refine protocols for dealing with the deadly virus, especially after two nurses treating Duncan became infected with Ebola.

Key to stopping the infection among health care workers is practice. In a press conference today the president of the Health and Hospitals Corporation of New York City, Dr. Ram Raju, told reporters that health teams at Bellevue and specialized ambulance teams have been training for two and half months to deal with an Ebola patient.

“Practice works, we have continuously drilled on this,” said Raju. “We are ready to take care of this patient.”

Both Raju and the New York mayor said seeing Duncan’s case unfold in Dallas helped them in conjunction with the CDC to prepare and refine their response to the first New York Ebola patient.