Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Hospital participated in a nationwide test of the ability to safely move patients with highly infectious diseases to regional treatment centers.
The four-day, large-scale exercise was called Tranquil Passport, and it involved more than 50 international, federal, state and local collaborators.
Led by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a part of U.S .Department of Human and Health Services, the exercise took place between June 24 and June 27 at airfields, hospitals and emergency operations centers in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York, NY, Raleigh, NC, and Toronto.
Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital and Emory University Hospital are a combined Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center – one of 13 in the U.S. with specialized training and capabilities to care for patients with highly contagious infectious diseases.
The exercise was an opportunity to test the new HHS Portable Biocontainment Unit (PBCU), the first domestic resource for isolating and transporting multiple patients with contagious infectious diseases via ground and air.
During the exercise, two patient actors were brought by plane to Raleigh and then to Atlanta by ground transport using the new PBCU, which can transport up to 10 patients with highly infectious diseases at once.
In Atlanta, one child actor with a simulated highly infectious disease was transported by Grady EMS to Arthur M. Blank Hospital and one adult actor with the same simulated disease was transported by ambulance to Emory University Hospital, both of which hospitals have specially designed units to care for patients with serious communicable diseases.
The Special Care Unit (SCU) at Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital is unique in the Southeast region and among few in the United States designated exclusively for children with highly contagious infectious diseases. The SCU ensures that children receive comprehensive care that is safely delivered by expertly trained staff in a high-level isolation facility.
The SCU has six airborne infection isolation rooms with special features like uni-directional air flow to minimize cross-contamination, designated rooms to put on and remove personal protective equipment (PPE) and a state-of-the-art audio and visual monitoring system to facilitate communication among staff providing patient care.
“Our Special Care Unit within Arthur M. Blank Hospital was specifically designed to ensure the safety of ill children and the dedicated health care team providing around-the-clock care,” said Dr. Andi Shane, division chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s. “We are excited to participate in this international exercise and ensure our specially trained staff members are prepared to care for patients with highly contagious infectious diseases should an incident arise.”
In 2002, Emory University Hospital opened the Serious Communicable Diseases Unit in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to care for scientists and other CDC employees at risk for exposure to infectious diseases.
Sharon Vanairsdale Carrasco, director of the Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center at Emory University, said the Serious Communicable Diseases Unit team trains regularly to care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases.
“The opportunity to participate in this full-scale exercise through ASPR provided our team with valuable experience and knowledge as we tested the new portable bio-containment unit for transporting patients,” said Carrasco. “The PBCU will add an additional layer of protection and safety for patients and care teams when transporting patients with suspected or confirmed highly infectious diseases to regional treatment centers like ours.”
Emory Healthcare, with 29,500 employees and 11 hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia.
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