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We were built in 2005 and dedicated by Dr. Julie Gerberding of the CDC. We were designed
originally to protect against agents of bio-terrorism. Like weaponized ebola, plague and small pox.
And we are geared up for that. Those are probably the worst things we'd see.
But there's always something new. Like SARS, avian flu, something that's got a high mortality
rate.
((sounds of duct tape and suit crinkling))
It's definitely a team sport. The military, the fire service has the "two is one, one
is none concept." Same thing here. We are really lucky to have this resource
in this hospital and our community to protect us.
The bio-containment unit at The Nebraska Medical Center will help protect us against a variety
of infections. There are two parts that you'd need to protect
against a severe infection. First, you need a special like this one that
has special airflow, seamless joints, pass-through auto-clave, high security entrance.
And then you need employees. And we have very experienced, well-trained employees that go
through hours and hours of extra training of how to put on this special gear.
So you have a nice facility but when people are walking around when we are activated or
doing a drill they have these "space suits" the complete containment suits with breathing
aparatus. These are hot and heavy and take some experience
to work with. But We need the protection from both sides.
We have a lot of people from the state and region; the military has come here. They're
interested in what we're doing. So I think the hospital is really at the cutting
edge of protecting our nation against either a naturally ocurring event or a bio-terrorism
event.