The Ebola training course was held at the Center for Infectious Disease Control and Prevention of Taiwan CDC in Tainan Cityduring March 18-20, 2015. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Stateand the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), 16 participants from Indonesia,Malaysia, Philippians, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam joined the trainingcourse. Moreover, two experts from the U.S. were invited to share theirexperiences with all participants. Both of them worked in Ebola Treatment Units(ETU) in Sierra Leone in the wake of the Ebola crisis and later served astrainers at the training course "Preparing Healthcare Workers to Work in EbolaTreatment Units (ETUs) in Africa" conducted by the US CDC in Anniston, Alabama.The training course was modeled after the courses organized by US CDC and amock ETU was set up to allow trainees to practice working under simulated conditions.
The opening ceremony was held on the firstday to welcome all international participants. Director Christopher J.Marut(AIT) and Director Chris Castro (Office of Taiwan Coordination, Department of State) attended the ceremony to give a welcome speech.
Lectures on Ebola virus epidemiology, infectioncontrol, ETU design, and personal protective equipment (PPE) donning anddoffing were given in the mornings.
ETU exercises were conducted in the afternoons.
The ETU exercises conducted on the firstday was to practice donning and doffing of PPE as well as blood drawing from apatient with Ebola virus disease (EVD). Trainers were assigned to a pair ofhealthcare workers in each area. In donning area, a trainer assisted two healthcareworkers on how to don their PPE, and in the high-risk zone, another trainerdemonstrates the steps of blood drawing and observed the procedure.
In the doffing area, each healthcare workerwas taught how to doff their PPE with a trainer giving instructions. A boot-removerwas made to allow hands-free removal of boots to reduce the risk of infection.
On the second day, the ETU exercise was designedto disinfect patient's vomitus and moving a dead body. If a patient vomited onthe ground, paired healthcare workers work together to disinfect and removesimulated vomits using pads.When a patient dies in the ETU, four healthcareworkers are needed to work as a group to move the body into a bag and take itto a morgue.
On the third day, trainees triaged new patientsoutside of ETU. In a simulated context that a suspected EVD patient wasdiscovered in a street, and the healthcare workers worked as a team to transportthe suspected EVD patient back to ETU.