A. If the patient has a positive screening test for an EID, all of those people who accompanied the patient to the hospital will be screened for an EID.
B. Members of a family who have a negative screen for an EID will be asked to wait outside for other family members. Patients and members of their family who have a positive screen for an EID will be escorted to the negative pressure zone of the ED.
1. At least one parent/guardian will remain with children ≤ 15 years of age who are assigned to either the special area of the waiting room or the negative pressure zone.
2. If the only parent/guardian or both parents/guardians are assigned to the negative pressure zone, the child or children ≤ 15 years of age will remain with the parent/guardian or parents/guardians. The child will don an N-95 mask prior to entering the negative pressure zone.
3. When only one of two parents/guardians has signs of an EID, the parent/guardian without signs of an EID may accompany children ≤ 15 without signs of an EID to the special area of the waiting room. Children ≥ 16 years of age who have no signs of an EID should wait in the special area of the waiting room with or without a parent/guardian.
C. Children without evidence of an EID who are ≤ 15 years of age will accompany the parent/guardian or parents/guardians to the negative pressure zone when the parent/guardian or parents/guardians are to be evaluated for an EID. Likewise, the parent/guardian or parents/guardians will accompany a child or children with signs of a possible EID to the negative pressure zone when the child or children are to be evaluated for an EID. Parents/guardians who screened negative for the EID will don an N-95 mask prior to accompanying their children into the negative pressure zone.
D. Evaluation and disposition of patients.
1. Pediatric patients will be transported to x-ray during the evaluation process following the procedures in policy 3.3 (Transportation of Patients with an Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) or a Possible EID).
2. Children with an EID who can be managed as outpatients will be sent home with a parent/guardian or family member. The Galveston County Health District will be notified when a patient with an EID is sent home (see policy 3.10 Communication on Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) Between the Department of Healthcare Epidemiology and the Galveston County Health District.
3. Admission of children with an EID.
a. Patients who are admitted will be transported to the fourth floor of Children’s Hospital (CH) by a member of the Transportation Department. (See Policy 3.3 Transportation of Patients with an Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) or a Possible EID).
b. Children will be admitted following the procedures in Policy 3.6 (Admission of Patients with an Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) to the Hospital) except that signatures will be obtained from a parent/guardian outside of the patient’s room when admission takes place after the patient has arrived on the floor.
c. EID patients will be admitted to the fourth floor of CH and will be placed in a private room and the door kept closed. The fourth floor will be the isolation unit for EIDs, and all non EID patients will be transferred to other nursing units.
1) HCWs will be assigned to care for EID patients and will not care for non EID patients.
2) If more EID patients are admitted, they will be admitted to the same unit as the first patient.
d. Patients admitted to the PICU (4 North) will be admitted to one of the two isolation rooms in the PICU.
1) HCWs assigned to EID patients in the PICU will care only for EID patients.
2) If more than two EID patients are admitted to the PICU, additional patients will be placed in rooms on 4 South.
