Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Hospital participated in a nationwide four-day, large-scale patient movement exercise that involved more than 50 international, federal, state and local collaborators, designed to test and validate the nation’s ability to move patients with highly infectious diseases safely and securely to regional treatment centers. Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital and Emory University Hospital, a part of Emory Healthcare, are a combined Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center and one of 13 in the county with specialized training and capabilities to care for patients with highly contagious infectious diseases.

The exercise, called Tranquil Passport, is the largest patient movement exercise in the history of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) involving patients with a highly contagious infectious disease. Led by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a part of HHS, the exercise took place June 24-27 at airfields, hospitals and emergency operations centers across Washington, DC; New York, NY; Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA and Toronto. The exercise was an opportunity to test the new HHS Portable Biocontainment Unit (PBCU), the first domestic resource for isolating and transporting multiple patients with contagious infectious diseases via ground and air.

During the exercise, two patient actors were brought by plane to Raleigh and then to Atlanta by ground transport using the new PBCU, which can transport up to 10 patients with highly infectious diseases at once. Once in Atlanta, one child actor with a simulated highly infectious disease was transported by Grady EMS to Arthur M. Blank Hospital and one adult actor with the same simulated disease was transported by ambulance to Emory University Hospital, both of which hospitals have specially designed units to care for patients with serious communicable diseases.

The Special Care Unit (SCU) at Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital is unique in the Southeast region and among few in the United States designated exclusively for children with highly contagious infectious diseases. The SCU ensures that children receive comprehensive care that is safely delivered by expertly trained staff in a high-level isolation facility. The SCU has six airborne infection isolation rooms with special features like uni-directional air flow to minimize cross-contamination, designated rooms to put on and remove personal protective equipment (PPE) and a state-of-the-art audio and visual monitoring system to facilitate communication among staff providing patient care.

“Our Special Care Unit within Arthur M. Blank Hospital was specifically designed to ensure the safety of ill children and the dedicated health care team providing around-the-clock care,” says Andi Shane, MD, division chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Children’s. “We are excited to participate in this international exercise and ensure our specially trained staff members are prepared to care for patients with highly contagious infectious diseases should an incident arise.”

In 2002, Emory University Hospital opened the Serious Communicable Diseases Unit in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to care for scientists and other CDC employees at risk for exposure to infectious diseases. The 11-bed isolation unit includes three ICU rooms, two of which are connected to a large anteroom in the middle for staff to monitoring other staff during patient care, along with a staff room for dressing in PPE. All rooms contain uni-directional air flow to reduce the spread of airborne infectious diseases. A lab dedicated to the unit has been established just outside the unit. The lab has the capacity to perform lab work, tests and specimen processing for a variety of infectious agents.

“The opportunity to participate in this full-scale exercise through ASPR provided our team with valuable experience and knowledge as we tested the new portable biocontainment unit for transporting patients,” says Sharon Vanairsdale Carrasco, DNP, APRN, CEN, director of the Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center at Emory University. “Our Serious Communicable Diseases Unit team trains regularly to care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases. We believe the PBCU will add an additional layer of protection and safety for patients and care teams when transporting patients with suspected or confirmed highly infectious diseases to regional treatment centers like ours.”

Tranquil Passport began on June 23 in Toronto, Canada. Between June 24-27, patient actors with a simulated highly infectious disease arrived at Dulles International Airport and were moved to regional treatment centers in Washington, DC; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City, New York; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Atlanta, Georgia.

About Emory Healthcare

Emory Healthcare, with 29,500 employees and 11 hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. System-wide, it has 3,028 licensed patient beds, more than 3,800 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties, serving metro Atlanta and Georgia. It also provides services to greater Georgia through a joint venture at St. Francis–Emory Healthcare in Columbus, six regional affiliate hospitals and its clinically integrated physician network.

About Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

As the only freestanding pediatric health care system in Georgia, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is the trusted leader in caring for kids. The not-for-profit organization’s mission is to make kids better today and healthier tomorrow through more than 60 pediatric specialties and programs, top health care professionals, and leading research and technology. Children’s is one of the largest pediatric clinical care providers in the country, managing more than one million patient visits annually at three hospitals (Arthur M. Blank, Hughes Spalding and Scottish Rite), Marcus Autism Center, the Center for Advanced Pediatrics, the Zalik Behavior and Mental Health Center, urgent care centers and neighborhood locations. Consistently ranked among the top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has impacted the lives of kids in Georgia, across the United States and around the world for more than 100 years thanks to generous support from the community.