Fresno County officials are taking 'no chances' with Ebola

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County officials are taking no chances with Ebola. Health officials says they're prepared to react to the worse and today said they're protecting first responders should there be an Ebola case here in the Valley.

Dan Lynch, director of Emergency Medical Services for Fresno County's Department of Public Health revealed six "isolation pods" that were just dusted off, and pulled out of storage.

Lynch added, "One mistake could be fatal and we're not willing to take that chance so we're going to deploy every tool we have in the box to make sure we're protecting our people."

Fresno County got the so-called negative pressure chambers about ten years ago in response to the SARS outbreak. They're now being deployed to Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties.

"We're learning everyday of something different that's occurring with Ebola - we're not taking a chance," explained Lynch.

Officials also met with school nurses to brief everyone about Ebola to make sure protocol remains the same, and to ensure that every school health employee has the same information.

Gail Williams works for the Health Services Department for Fresno Unified, and said, "I think typically what parents want to know is what's going to happen if someone shows up at my child's school and says they've been around someone who had Ebola."

Williams says they're following health alerts and keeping updated on current information. "What they probably are doing a lot of is fielding questions from school sites, from parents."

Williams says if there is a concern at a school, the child would be removed from class, an investigation would be launched and the health department would immediately get involved, which is why Dan Lynch says these isolation pods will be in place for the moment they need to be used.

Lynch said, "The idea is to isolate the disease process within this tube."

He says for now, the best response is prevention.

Clovis Unified officials say they've reached out to Dallas City Schools to stay aware of the most current developments and they've got a copy of that district's response plan.