CDC swamped with record number of calls about SARS
Hospital Safety Connection, April 10, 2003
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Connection!
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is receiving a record number of telephone calls from concerned citizens asking about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a highly contagious disease that spread from Asia to the U.S. and elsewhere, the Associated Press reports.
The number of daily calls sometimes surpasses 1,500, a greater number than even during the anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001, CDC Director Julie Gerberding told a Senate panel on April 9. As of April 7, there were 148 suspected cases of SARS in the U.S. and more than 2,600 worldwide.
CDC officials are working with airlines to determine appropriate procedures if a suspected SARS patient is on a flight, including protections for workers on the plane and how to handle decontamination of the plane.
The main symptoms of SARS are a high fever combined with dry cough, shortness of breath, or breathing difficulties.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Connection!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Learn Life Safety Code tips and interpretations for healthcare facilities with this in-depth monthly resource.
-
Hospital Safety Connection
Stay on top of hospital safety requirements and best practices with our free, fast-paced weekly update.
-
Administering Your OSHA Program
This course will help an employee new to the role of OSHA safety officer. It gives an overview of OSHA requirements and...
-
Medical OSHA Manual Combo
Get into compliance with Quality America's OSHA Safety Program Manual and stay in compliance with OSHA Watch Newsletter...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- CMS issues IPPS proposed rule for FY 2013
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- Don't let these sentinel events trigger falsely
- Arkansas woman convicted for HIPAA violation
- Reasons for inadequate fluid intake in the elderly
- Q&A tackles coding questions about injections and infusions
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Hospitalist-surgeon comanagement has no effect on outcomes
- Searched