Hospital staff across Long Island are being retrained on how to respond to a patient infected with the Ebola virus.
The stepped-up efforts come after a nurse in Dallas tested positive for Ebola after caring for a man who later died from the virus. The nurse, 26-year-old Nina Pham, had been wearing protective gear during Thomas Duncan's treatment. Officials believe there must have been some sort of breach in safety procedures.
Pham was part of a 70 member team treating Duncan. It's not clear how many of them might have had direct contact with him.
The group National Nurses United said 3/4 of American hospitals aren't ready to handle Ebola.
"We're seeing that caregivers who are not being adequately trained are being blamed," said Katy Roemer, of National Nurses United.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta held a press conference Monday urging hospitals to be more prepared and to improve the safety of those on the front lines.
Officials at North Shore LIJ, the nation's third largest health care system, told News 12 that they have new measures in place for nurses. They say the staff is prepared to ask a patient about their symptoms and if they have traveled to West Africa.
If a nurse suspects Ebola, the patient is then isolated and head-to-toe protection for staff is initiated.