Ebola apparently is everywhere is the world these days, and it does not discriminate. It cares not about race, age or the physical size of its host. It simply wants to spread freely and make the daily headlines all around the globe.
My oldest son who attends middle school watched a video today about Ebola and its origins, my elementary school son, well, he just watches it on the television and reads the headlines…….the radio is also broadcasting about the victims, the EMS workers, nurses and airplane travel and this diseases incessant desire to spread.

Living in Orlando, Florida with an International Airport just miles away, I wonder how quickly Ebola will take to arrive here. Customs won’t stop it, the TSA is helpless and the police, nah…..once it sneaks in, its here for the long haul. Now don’t let this panic you, the big pharmacy companies are promising a drug, a cure, a miracle on its way. The million dollar question is, who will it be made available to first? Can I get it, can your kids, your pets? Only time will tell, but I think it will be a long time before the PILL becomes readily available…..I hope I’m wrong.

The one certainty is that once Ebola makes its way into the Sunshine state, it will spread quickly, of this I am positive. Patients will have to be transported to safe zones, quarantine areas and wherever else the City decides to house them. It wont be fun……..scary yes, but fun, NO! Healthcare workers who were already wearing their PPE (Personal protection equipment) have now been diagnosed….so what of the man on the street who has the perfect exposure risk made available?

Moving forward—The Winter Park Fire/Rescue organization, a nearby city of Orlando, now has three ambulances equipped with self contained, built-in decontamination units – coming in the wake of an international Ebola virus scare. The units feature pressurized pumps, which release a decontamination mist inside the patient area of the ambulance. It takes about 15 minutes for the mist to cover all the surface area inside and break the chain of infection. Initially built for another service, this process will hopefully set the standard for rescue and emergency medical workers who travel to areas where contamination is possible.
It’s inventor, AeroClave founder Dr. Ronald Brown, recently showed me the testing methods of his built in decontamination unit, at his office in Winter Park, Florida. Viruses with similar characteristics to Ebola have been tested with positive results that show the pathogens are erased. A small disk which contains spores is placed throughout the vehicle, inside of gear bags and drawers, and then misted. The disk is taken out after the process has been completed and then tested to see if the spores were killed. In all the cases he showed me, they were. Everyday AeroClave is bringing in city and county vehicles from other agencies to “clean them out”. If it is currently available, why haven’t I heard about other states trying to benefit from this service? Are they tone deaf, don’t read social media, broke, or just scared to call….

I surely hope this process and his installed units gain some followers in the near future. I for one, would feel much safer traveling in the back of an ambulance that I know was decontaminated after the last medical call had ended. I don’t know who was in the back of the truck prior to me. I’m sure the workers themselves would also feel much safer knowing that they can mist the back of the ambulance after every call. I for one, enjoy coming home to my boys every night, and surely don’t want the Ebola virus to come calling unexpectedly.

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