Ebola: Urgent Need, Rapid Response

The recent Ebola outbreak brought to bear the true nature of our ever-shrinking global health care community. Geography can no longer be considered a barrier to the spread of a highly communicable disease. Health care providers must be prepared to care for these patients regardless of location or environment. The simulation community responded rapidly to the Ebola epidemic with creative and timely solutions for training and systems optimization. Successful programs focused on 2 primary aims. First, the programs equipped the health care workers with essential knowledge for caring for their patients and protecting themselves. Second, they provided feedback to the system itself, identifying gaps in protocol and solutions for logistic challenges these patients often present. By having simulation integrated into the patient safety culture of our health care systems, we set in place a powerful tool that can respond nimbly to a high-stakes threat as evidenced by the success of these Ebola programs.