Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease caused by the Ebola virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, and bleeding. It spreads through contact with infected body fluids and can have an incubation period of 2-21 days. There is no vaccine or cure, but recovery depends on supportive clinical care. Proper personal protective equipment and following decontamination procedures are vital to prevent the spread of Ebola when responding to potential cases.

2. What is Ebola?
• According to the CDC, Ebola is an infectious
and generally fatal disease marked by fever
and severe internal bleeding, spread through
contact with infected body fluids by a
filovirus ( Ebola virus ), whose normal host
species is unknown.

3. Signs & Symptoms of Ebola
• Fever
• Severe headache
• Muscle pain
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal (stomach) pain
• Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)

4. Signs & Symptoms of Ebola
• Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to
21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the
average is 8 to 10 days.
• Recovery from Ebola depends on good
supportive clinical care and the patient’s
immune response. People who recover
from Ebola infection develop antibodies
that last for at least 10 years.

5. How is Ebola Spread?
• When an infection occurs in humans, the
virus can be spread to others through
direct contact (through broken skin or
mucous membranes in, for example, the
eyes, nose, or mouth) with;
• Blood or body fluids (including but not
limited to urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit,
breast milk, and semen) of a person who is
sick with or has died from Ebola.

6. How is Ebola Spread?
• Objects (like needles and syringes) that
have been contaminated with body fluids
from a person who is sick with Ebola or
the body of a person who has died from
Ebola.
• Infected fruit bats or primates (apes and
monkeys).

7. How is Ebola Spread?
• Possibly from contact with semen from
a man who has recovered from Ebola.
• Ebola is NOT spread through the air, by
water, or in general, by food.

8. What do we do for an Ebola call?
• First and foremost, as with anything else,
our safety and health come before
anything else.
• If Ebola case is suspected and we respond,
you must immediately notify myself as
soon as possible, without impacting
patient care.

9. What do we do for an Ebola call?
• No suspected Ebola case is to be
approached without proper PPE.
• As we do in firefighting with Ebola we will
use the 2 in 2 out rule. The second person
may in this case be a driver that is proficient
in Ebola safety.

10. Prepping to respond to the call.
• All the non-essential equipment for the call
will need to be removed from the
ambulance. I would only keep;
– The stretcher
– The Life Pak
– The Thermometer

11. Prepping to respond to the call.
• Follow proper donning procedure for
putting on your PPE.
• After you’re done getting it on you and your
partner need to recheck your gear.
• You are now safe to respond.

12. After the call…
• Follow the proper doffing procedure for
removing your PPE.
• The ambulance will now be out of service.
• The ambulance must stay at the hospital and
be “sealed” with all equipment in/on it.

13. After the call…
• Follow up care for anyone that had any level
of contact with the patient, as deemed
necessary by the CDC at that time.