Copyright © 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Despite its name, the Albuquerque International Sunport does not have any international destinations.
It does, however, have multiple daily direct flights from Dallas, currently the focal point of Ebola anxiety in the United States after one patient died from the disease at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and two nurses who cared for him there contracted the illness.
Currently, the Sunport does not do the advanced terminal screenings being done at five of the nation’s busiest airports with international flights, but there is a protocol in place to deal with situations in which a passenger aboard an aircraft arrives from anywhere showing symptoms of a possibly infectious illness.
“We would do a ‘remote’ park and have the aircraft park in an area away from the terminal,” said Jim Hinde, director of the city’s Aviation Department. Meanwhile, airport officials would call 911, then notify the city’s Office of Emergency Management, which in turn would activate the Emergency Operations Center if necessary. If activated, the EOC “would then become the incident commander in dealing with the issue.”
The people aboard the aircraft would remain isolated until they were transferred to another location for further observation or testing, or released if medical experts determined it was safe to do so, Hinde said.
The people escorting the passengers off the plane would wear “personal protective equipment,” which could include body suits similar to those worn by medical workers who come in contact with people suspected of having infectious diseases, Hinde said.
“One place we could stage them is the ‘Snowbarn,’ which is actually the Airfield Maintenance and Equipment Storage Facility,” located on airport property but far from the main terminal, he said. From there, passengers could be taken to a secure long-term isolation facility, if necessary.
The aircraft, once empty, would be disinfected before being put back into service, he said.
Because this scenario has not yet occurred, it’s not clear how long all this should take, though in theory it should happen “fairly quickly,” said Melissa Romero, spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Fire Department, one of the agencies that would respond if the EOC is activated.
“I have concerns about Ebola on a worldwide basis, not necessarily flights from Dallas,” Hinde said. “I think every citizen in the U.S. has concerns about Ebola, but I wouldn’t single out Dallas any more than any other airport that carries international passengers.”
He noted that the Centers for Disease Control and the Transportation Security Administration are currently working on additional instructions and information regarding how airports should deal with the growing threat of Ebola, though he did not know what those measures might be or under what circumstances they might be implemented.
Romero said the first responders to the isolated aircraft would all be wearing personal protective suits as they interviewed the patient and talked to the crew and passengers.
“If the patient meets the criteria of a fever of 101.5 degrees and has traveled to West Africa within 21 days – specifically Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone – the patient will be transported to the hospital to be tested,” she said.
Local hospitals all have protocols to isolate and treat people with infectious diseases. The University of New Mexico Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital have said in recent days that they have facilities and staff prepared to deal with Ebola patients.
Lovelace Health System spokeswoman Laurie Volkin said Thursday that “all Lovelace hospitals, clinics and facilities follow safety protocols designed to enable the delivery of appropriate patient care while ensuring the safety of others.”
She added that “Lovelace is working closely with the New Mexico Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
In a written statement to the Journal on Thursday, Albuquerque Fire Chief David Downey said the city “is committed to protecting the welfare of our citizens. We continue to refine our planning and preparedness measures by communicating with the Department of Health and local hospitals. We are actively monitoring the Ebola situation through the CDC website and other information sites for updates and changing conditions.”