Ebola Preparedness: FIU Expert Stresses Vigilance, Education and Training (Video)

(VIDEO: Dr. Aileen Marty talks about the importance of containing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus)

A wide range of topics related to Ebola including history, symptoms, transmission and containment were addressed by Aileen Marty, M.D., professor, Infectious Diseases, at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Dr. Marty was the guest speaker at an Ebola Education Forum hosted by Baptist Health South Florida.

Dr. Marty’s presentation centered on her recent trip to Nigeria, where she spent 31 days serving with the World Health Organization’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network. She traced the spread of the disease into Lagos, where her team is credited with containing the epidemic before a widespread outbreak could occur.

It’s important, she says, for U.S. healthcare organizations to stay up-to-date on the changing safety guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and to participate in the ongoing education and training of medical teams. John Braden, M.D., Baptist Health’s Medical Director for Emergency Preparedness says all Baptist Health facilities follow the guidelines established by the CDC in preparing for and managing patients diagnosed with Ebola or other infectious diseases.

Several infectious disease specialists from FIU and Baptist Health joined Dr. Marty for a panel discussion and a question and answer session. Baptist Health South Florida and FIU’s Wertheim College of Medicine share a clinical partnership.