The Flathead City-County Health Department, Kalispell Fire Department and Kalispell Regional Medical Center were among the agencies who collaborated during a two-day infectious disease drill on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A “patient” who volunteered to pretend to be an Ebola-infected person was at the center of a complicated process of controlling infectious disease in the Flathead Valley.

Hillary Hanson, the Flathead County Deputy Health Officer, said the drill was designed from the point when a person steps off the plane from West Africa to treatment at an enclosed environment in a hospital.

“We were testing the transport of a potential Ebola patient to the hospital,” she said. “It actually started yesterday when we started the process like the patient had just come back from travel to West Africa.”

A community member offered the use of a home for the “patient.” A state agency contacted the Flathead City-County Health Department to tell public health officials about a person who had traveled to the countries where the deadly and highly infectious filovirus native to Africa had made the biggest mark.

The health department then contacted the possible patient and placed her under a 21-day active monitoring status. Dr. Jeffrey Tjaden, an infectious disease expert, then contacted the patient (who was instructed to report feverish symptoms) and determined she posed a public health risk.

“Kalispell Fire Department then came out to transport the person to the hospital,” Hanson said. “We were practicing this patient as a ‘dry’ patient, an emergency response term I’m just learning. We may in the future practice with a ‘wet’ patient as well.”

With Ebola in particular, a dry patient — one which is feverish but not shedding viral matter in bodily fluids — can be handled with less personal protective equipment.

A “wet” patient would be one actively shedding the virus and would emergency responders to wear full hazardous-materials personal protective equipment.

Hanson said the collaboration between 911 Dispatch, the health department, the hospital, fire department and the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office was excellent.

“I was very impressed how prepared we all were for an event like this,” she said. “There is always room for improvement, however. Overall it went smoothly, but the biggest piece to work on is on the communication end. There were issues with calling people, finding they were already on the phone and not having a backup number for them.”

The fire department transported the “patient” to Kalispell Regional, where a trained set of physicians and nurses took her to an enclosed part of the building with its own air circulation.

“It was just a great opportunity for us to practice,” Hanson said. “We keep saying Ebola, but the truth is we are practicing for any infectious disease, whatever that may be. There’s always something.”

Hanson said rural fire departments were training for an infectious disease as well, and could well be able to handle an early-stage Ebola patient when the next training situation comes along.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.