Masked hospital staff quickly checked in and evaluated coughing volunteers during an avian flu simulation at the University of Maryland Medical Center on Wednesday.

Although the “bird flu” occasionally jumps from animal to human, emergency responders are trying to prepare for the worst-case scenario — a pandemic flu outbreak quickly spreading from human to human.

“The genetic makeup of avian influenza has the capability to change and may [be] transmitted,” Medical Director for Infection Control Harold Standiford said. “We just want to be prepared.”

“I’m in respiratory distress,” volunteer and nursing student Laura Alberico said from a small mobile hospital bed awaiting pseudo-treatment. “I went to Singapore, but I wouldn’t have been able to leave with this cough.”

This story continues below
Advertisement

But her “symptoms didn’t appear until after she boarded the plane.”

Assumed patients were received at the first tent and assigned treatment according to their breathing and cognitive abilities.

“With the avian flu, we typically look for respiratory issues and determine the necessary treatment,” said Marianna McNeil, emergency medical nurse.

The staff is trained to evaluate patients through a series of questions and observation.

“Currently, there is no cure for the avian flu,” Kellogg said. “We are strategizing with other local hospitals and the Strategic National Stockpile in the event that supplies become necessary.”

In the event an outbreak of the avian flu hits Baltimore City, the Medical Center would experience high volumes of cases varying in symptoms.

“We would be inundated with people displaying a variety of respiratory issues,” Emergency Medical Nurse Bluma Bier said.

The Medical Center works with other hospitals and two mental health facilities to prepare staff for a wide variety of avian-infected patients and their psychological status in the event an outbreak occurs.

lduffy@baltimoreexaminer.com