MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Amid the world’s novel coronavirus spread, the emergency medicine staff at Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach’s only emergency care provider, has been getting prepared for the possibility of a pandemic.
Dr. David Farcy, the chair of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said the emergency room, which has an eight-bed minor care unit, now has a unit with isolation rooms with trained staff.
“Once we have identified a patient with an airborne disease, we move them into the isolation room, especially if we think they have coronavirus,” Farcy said.
Doctors will keep patients who need to be tested for the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, in the isolation room for 24 to 48 hours.
Farcy also said the isolation rooms have an airlock that is designed to keep bacteria from spreading to other parts of the hospital.