[symple_googlemap title=”Hollywood Ebola scare” location=”5900 block of Barton Avenue near Gower Street, Hollywood, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”16″]
More than 30 firefighters and a Hazmat team were dispatched to a Hollywood home after a report that a woman who returned from a trip to Africa had fallen ill, sparking concerns — later dismissed — that the woman was infected with the Ebola virus.
“Once we talked to our medical director everything de-escalated pretty quickly,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Peter Sanders told the Los Angeles Times.
Firefighters took special precautions in responding to the 5900 block of Barton Avenue near Gower Street at around 9:15 p.m. Monday, said Erik Scott of the fire department.
The patient was taken to a hospital in serious condition, Scott said. Her illness was not immediately disclosed.
A total of 33 firefighters responded to reports of the incident. Firefighters initially took extra measures due to official protocols on dealing with Ebola patients, Scott said.
The patient was a woman who had just returned from Gabon, Sanders told the Times. A physician reviewing the woman’s symptoms with firefighters said it was “extremely unlikely” that the woman had contracted Ebola. Los Angeles police officers were called to the scene to provide crowd control, police said.
—City News Service