ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News is getting an up-close look at what it took to get two patients exposed to the hantavirus on a cruise ship to Emory University Hospital once they landed in Atlanta.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna spoke with the crew who drove the ambulances carrying the patients.
They told Doudna that the teams have trained for years for situations like this.
“You only got one shot at it. You can’t make mistakes,” Grady EMS District Manager Armond Acree said.
When dealing with a potentially deadly, contagious disease, perfection is required.
It’s what the Grady EMS biosafety transport team has trained for.
“We’re able to mobilize within like two hours to take a patient in,” Acree said.
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Acree leads the team that trains every quarter for situations like Monday’s.
Twelve years ago, they were called on to transport Ebola patients to Emory.
On Monday, they hit the road again.
“We drive with no lights or sirens. So, it’s inconspicuous. We don’t want you to know who we are or think that’s the ambulance,” Acree said.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of stress involved, you know, it’s a high-profile case,” Paramedic Robert Underwood said.
Underwood was behind the wheel of one of the two ambulances on Monday.
He said the entire process is a team effort. They take a normal ambulance and create a special area in the back to care for and protect the patient.
They also train on what to do on the roads to make sure, whatever happens, they keep driving.
“Because the last thing you want to do is wreck one of those trucks with a patient on the back,” Underwood said.
There’s no stopping after we get it on the ambulance, and there’s always like a backup plan for the backup plan,” Acree said.
The goal for the Grady team is to transport the patient to the hospital for the individual’s care and the safety of everyone.
“It’s great to be a part of it. There aren’t a lot of people who say they can do this kind of work, so it’s pretty cool,” Underwood said.
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