1. EBOLA IN DALLAS Challenges, Strategies,
Logistics

2. BIGGEST ISSUES
• Ensuring the safety of the public, health care personnel,
employees and those under medical surveillance.
• Working under national media attention
• Communication: providing correct information to media
and public, correcting misinformation and managing
panic
• Ensuring we follow County/State legal, purchasing and
operational requirements
• Tracking costs and having those cost figures available
• Keeping a good situational awareness throughout the
incident
• Managing distractions or “white noise”

3. CHALLENGES
Phase I: Thomas Eric Duncan
 Identifying contacts
 Addressing fear and panic (languages)
 Decontaminating the home
 Finding a temporary home for Louise Troh
 Finding a homeless man
 Disposing of biohazards

4. CHALLENGES
Phase 2: Nina Pham
 Identifying additional contacts
 Providing on-site community support
 Transferring Nina to NIH
 Putting a dog in isolation
 Testing the first dog in the U.S. for Ebola
 Nina and Bentley reunion

5. CHALLENGES
Phase 3: Amber Vinson
 Identifying contacts
 Notifying residents
 Communicable disease control orders
 Transporting her to Emory
 Addressing healthcare workers who travel

6. STRATEGIES - OPS
 EOC (breakout for County, City, State/Federal, conference rooms for meetings)
 WebEOC (Used to post Sit Reps, IAP, Significant Events, Resource Requests)
 Email List Distribution Created
 Face To Face (EOC Briefings-Twice Per Day)
 Emergency Managers Conference Call (Daily at 12 noon)
 Mayor & Judge Conference Call (Daily at 6pm)
 State - Regional EM Conference Call; medical conference call (Periodically)
 Persons assigned to keep elected and appointed officials updated
 311 staffed; Citizen Phone Bank established (Staffed by MRC)
 PIOs, community health teams & police deployed to distribute flyers &
information

8. STRATEGIES - COMMS
Social media allows you to communicate in real time
Twitter is your best friend during a crisis – have one primary handle
Use your website to post articles, video updates
Allows you to control the messaging – not the media
Share, Share, Share – shows that you are being transparent and allows
you to be forgiven
Press conferences when updates are needed from different
partners/agencies
Town hall meetings for public and internal employees

10. LOGISTICS
OEM PIO DFR DPD
•Manages logistics
•Filters all info from
city and partners
(DSHS, CDC, county,
city, DART, DISD)
•Permits
•Contractors
•Educational
Handouts
•Reverse 911
•Transport of nurses
(Love Field)
•Permits for waste
•Home for Louise
Troh
•Door-to-door
communication
•Media relations
•Community relations
(on site)
•311 script
•Broadcast segments
•Raw video for news
•Social
media/website
•Press conferences,
interviews
•Public release of info
•KnowEbola
campaign
•Door-to-door
communication
•Medical expert –can
serve in an advisory
role and issue
communicable
disease control
orders
•Decon guidelines
•Decon ambulance
•Haz-Mat team
•Decon of common
areas
•Door-to-door
communication
•Finding homeless
man with DCSO
•Can deliver control
orders
•Social media
•Set up command
post at hot zones
•Set up staging areas
for media near hot
zones
•Provided support to
PIO

11. LESSONS LEARNED – OPS
• Have a plan for Ebola - Planning is most important part of the
process
• Train and exercise the plan; ensure you are ready
• Have pre-existing contracts ahead of the event
• Make sure all persons involved are treated with respect and
compassion
• Documentation is very important - Freedom of Information
(Pictures)
• Know the importance of legal, purchasing and media team
• Importance of medical monitoring-have a surveillance plan
• Have a situation unit that can plan, react and implement on the fly
• Keep the EOC in the operational environment…not as face of event

12. LESSONS LEARNED - COMMS
• Transparent, clear, consistent communication are key
• Communicate frequently - Have a public face of the event
• Don’t create your own emergencies
• Don’t allow media to control your messaging
• Don’t assume someone else is getting your message out
• Make sure the entity that has the most resources is the core
of the communications effort
• Media, internal employees, community, elected officials

13. POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Public release of information (mass release)
Communicable disease control orders
Medical authority
Plan for tracking those being monitored, where to house people and
pets
Plan for transporting patients
Don’t forget about your own employees who are scared or at risk
Social media
Make @#$! happen

14. NINA & BENTLEY REUNION

15. QUESTIONS?