An airplane transporting a doctor infected with the deadly Ebola in West Africa lands near Atlanta on Tuesday. …
An undisclosed number of people who’ve been exposed to the Ebola virus — not just the four patients publicly identified with diagnosed cases — have been evacuated to the U.S. by an air ambulance company contracted by the State Department.
“We moved a lot of other people who had an exposure event,” said Dent Thompson, vice president of Phoenix Air Group. “Many times these people are just fine, they just had an exposure. But you have to treat it as though the disease is present.”
“We moved a lot of other people who had an exposure event,” said Dent Thompson, vice president of Phoenix Air Group. “Many times these people are just fine, they just had an exposure. But you have to treat it as though the disease is present.”
How many exposed patients have been flown from West Africa to the U.S.? Thompson said medical privacy laws and his company’s contract with the State Department prevent him from revealing the figure.
“I’m not avoiding it,” Thompson told Yahoo News. “I’m just not allowed to talk about it.”
Five weeks ago, medical missionary Dr. Kent Brantly became the first Ebola patient to be treated in the U.S. He and fellow missionary Nancy Writebol were nursed back to health in a special isolation unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and later released. Dr. Rick Sacra and an unidentified doctor who arrived on Tuesday are currently being treated in the U.S.
The State Department confirmed the four known Ebola patient transports but couldn’t provide details on any exposure evacuations to the United States. Phoenix Air, they said, is under contract because of its expertise.
An unnamed State Department official said “every precaution is taken to move the patient safely and securely, to provide critical care en route, and to maintain strict isolation upon arrival in the United States.”
Thompson said Phoenix Air has flown 10 Ebola-related missions in the past six weeks.
“Not everything we do is [related to] a sick person,” he said, adding that the company has also flown supplies. “We do basically whatever needs to be done.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is operating an around-the-clock Ebola emergency operations center, did not immediately respond to an email seeking information about the exposure patient transports.
An unnamed State Department official said “every precaution is taken to move the patient safely and securely, to provide critical care en route, and to maintain strict isolation upon arrival in the United States.”
Thompson said Phoenix Air has flown 10 Ebola-related missions in the past six weeks.
“Not everything we do is [related to] a sick person,” he said, adding that the company has also flown supplies. “We do basically whatever needs to be done.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is operating an around-the-clock Ebola emergency operations center, did not immediately respond to an email seeking information about the exposure patient transports.
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On Monday, President Barack Obama, who has called the outbreak a U.S. national security priority, pledged more U.S. assistance to West Africa. The White House recently requested $30 million more from Congress to help the CDC’s efforts with the crisis.
With multiple government and aid organizations trying to tackle the unprecedented epidemic, Thompson predicts his team will be flying more precautionary patients back to the U.S.
“There will be a certain number of people who, through no fault of their own, will have an exposure event, and they are immediately identified and immediately extracted,” he said.
Phoenix Air’s modified Gulfstream III jets are “literally intensive care units with wings,” Thompson said. He said even evacuees without a confirmed Ebola diagnosis are placed in an isolation chamber for the 12- to 14-hour flight from West Africa to the U.S.
“You can never, ever let your safety guards down,” he said.
On Monday, President Barack Obama, who has called the outbreak a U.S. national security priority, pledged more U.S. assistance to West Africa. The White House recently requested $30 million more from Congress to help the CDC’s efforts with the crisis.
With multiple government and aid organizations trying to tackle the unprecedented epidemic, Thompson predicts his team will be flying more precautionary patients back to the U.S.
“There will be a certain number of people who, through no fault of their own, will have an exposure event, and they are immediately identified and immediately extracted,” he said.
Phoenix Air’s modified Gulfstream III jets are “literally intensive care units with wings,” Thompson said. He said even evacuees without a confirmed Ebola diagnosis are placed in an isolation chamber for the 12- to 14-hour flight from West Africa to the U.S.
“You can never, ever let your safety guards down,” he said.
The Georgia-based air transport organization got included in the most recent Ebola emergency when the Christian philanthropic gathering Samaritan's Purse enrolled it to empty Brantly and Writebol. The State Department was included in the logistics, however the excursions were supported by Samaritan's Purse.
From that point forward, Thompson said, Phoenix Air has exclusively been under contract with the State Department.
"It got to be obvious that we could no more treat any of these flights as a private or business flight," said Thompson, declining to uncover the specifics of the administration contract.
From that point forward, Thompson said, Phoenix Air has exclusively been under contract with the State Department.
"It got to be obvious that we could no more treat any of these flights as a private or business flight," said Thompson, declining to uncover the specifics of the administration contract.
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Brantly, Writebol and the most recent patient have been dealt with at Emory University in Atlanta. A week ago, Sacra was traveled to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Those healing centers, in addition to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula, Montana, have uniquely prepared biocontainment units inherent coordinated effort with the CDC. In any case, the CDC has said any U.s. healing facility after contamination control suggestions and secluding a patient in a private room is fit for securely dealing with a tainted patient.
Thompson declined to say where patients who have recently been laid open to Ebola have been traveled to in the U.s.
"They all go to a doctor's facility and they screen them," he said. "On the off chance that they do create it, then they treat them. Also, fingers crossed, they're going to exit the way Brantly and Nancy Writebol exited."
Brantly, Writebol and the most recent patient have been dealt with at Emory University in Atlanta. A week ago, Sacra was traveled to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Those healing centers, in addition to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula, Montana, have uniquely prepared biocontainment units inherent coordinated effort with the CDC. In any case, the CDC has said any U.s. healing facility after contamination control suggestions and secluding a patient in a private room is fit for securely dealing with a tainted patient.
Thompson declined to say where patients who have recently been laid open to Ebola have been traveled to in the U.s.
"They all go to a doctor's facility and they screen them," he said. "On the off chance that they do create it, then they treat them. Also, fingers crossed, they're going to exit the way Brantly and Nancy Writebol exited."
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