Korle Bu Teaching Hospital conducts Ebola emergency simulation to strengthen frontline preparedness
The Central Laboratory of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital has conducted an emergency Ebola response simulation aimed at strengthening frontline preparedness for highly infectious diseases.
This comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The disease, which has since spread to Uganda, has recorded more than 550 confirmed cases and at least 101 deaths as of June 8.
The simulation exercise, approved by the acting Head of Department, Dr. Charles Ofei-Palm, brought together a multidisciplinary team of laboratory staff, public health personnel, pharmacy officers and ambulance service providers.
It was designed to test the ability of health workers to isolate, screen and manage suspected Ebola cases while preventing hospital-based transmission.
The simulation was led by a specialist facilitation team comprising Dr. Augustine E. Sagoe, infectious disease specialist, Miss Lucy Addy, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer at the Ghana Infectious Disease Centre, and Mr. Michael Baffour-Asare, a health safety officer.
In a statement shared by social media on Tuesday, June 9, the hospital said participants were taken through strict containment procedures, including patient reception protocols, rapid isolation, safe zone creation and infection control measures.
The drill also tested vital clinical procedures such as monitoring of patients with minimal contact and strict compliance with personal protective equipment protocols, including donning and doffing techniques.
In addition, the exercise emphasised proper handling of biohazard samples and accurate documentation of patient timelines and inter-unit communication.
However, a post-exercise debriefing revealed key weaknesses in institutional readiness and coordination among clinical teams.
Speaking during the debrief, Dr. Sagoe said the response level within the Infectious Disease Centre was inadequate during the simulation.
"The Infectious Disease Centre's (IDC) readiness was low during the drill," he quoted in the post.
The exercise also exposed gaps in clinical documentation, with observers noting that medical staff failed to properly record patient history during the simulated emergency.