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Local hospitals prepare as second Texas worker diagnosed

As information is being revealed about the latest Ebola victim, a local hospital is taking steps to prepare their staff to treat the illness, if needed.

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - As information is being revealed about the latest Ebola victim, local hospitals are taking steps to prepare their staff to treat the illness, if needed.

The medical staff at Rady Children's Hospital says they have trained their entire staff seven different times and prepared their ER department for any potential Ebola cases. The training included security guards, receptionists, nurses and doctors, who all took part in a simulated Ebola scenario Monday.

The first question health care workers would ask is if the patient had recently been to West Africa. Ebola symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, fever, possibly a rash, red eyes and unexplained bleeding.

"We're ready and set like any other health care emergency or crisis…like we do every day," said Rady Children's Hospital Interim COO, Dr. Nicolas Holmes.

Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla is also training their staff. The Scripps' Chief Medical Officer says they've learned a lot from CDC guidelines and the mistakes made in Texas where two healthcare workers have tested positive for Ebola.

Scripps Memorial has been actively re-training their medical staff on infectious viruses and how to properly handle potential cases, including instructing workers on show to wear protective gear.

The Scripps' Chief Medical Officer believes there won't be a massive public outbreak of Ebola cases in the US due to 40 years of experience treating the virus.

"At Scripps Health we've been reanalyzing the information and we've decided to re-train our at-risk staff and bought new protective gear recommended by the CDC and moved it up a notch,” said Dr. James LaBelle.

A third hospital, Sharp Memorial, is also holding staff meetings with their health care team, and they're about to roll out new training guidelines on how to handle Ebola.

The World Health Organization reports that within two months the infection in West Africa could jump to as many as 10,000 new cases a week.

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