Press Release - FAA Statement on Ebola

Does the FAA require health screening of passengers bound to the United States? U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the CDC have closely coordinated to develop policies, procedures, and protocols to identify travelers that are known by U.S. public health officials to have a communicable disease and to handle in a manner that minimizes risk to the public. These procedures have been utilized collaboratively by both agencies on a number of occasions with positive results.

CBP personnel review all travelers entering the United States for general overt signs of illnesses (visual observation, questioning, and notification of CDC as appropriate) at all U.S. ports of entry, including all federal inspection services areas at U.S. airports that service international flights. When a traveler is identified with a possible communicable disease or identified from information that is received from the CDC, CBP personnel will take the appropriate safety measures by donning personal protective equipment (PPE), to include gloves and surgical masks, which are readily available for use in the course of their duties. CBP personnel receive training in illness recognition, but if they identify an individual believed to be infected, CBP will contact CDC along with local public health authorities to help with further medical evaluation.

What should a crewmember do if they suspect someone is infected with Ebola? The CDC, through a network of Quarantine Stations located at 20 ports of entry and land-border crossings, has routine health inspection procedures that consist of working with airline, cargo ship, and cruise ship companies to protect passengers and crews from certain infectious diseases. Quarantine inspectors meet arriving aircraft and ships reporting ill passengers and/or crew (as defined in the foreign quarantine regulations) and assist them in getting appropriate medical treatment. If the flight crew of a commercial aircraft ARRIVING in the U.S. becomes aware of an ill person on board which may include a person with Ebola symptoms, the captain is REQUIRED by law (42 CFR 71.21(b)) to report the illness to the nearest U.S. Quarantine Station, who will arrange the appropriate medical response at the flights destination airport.International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and procedures provide for reports to be made to air traffic control. Once the FAA receives a report, it promptly communicates it to the CDC Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Information on U.S. Quarantine Stations is available at http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/quarantinestationcontactlistfull.html, with major quarantine stations located in Anchorage, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York (JFK), Newark, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

The FAA has an agreement in place with CDC that outlines how the FAA and CDC will exchange notifications of reports that they receive of deaths, suspected cases of communicable disease, and other public health risks onboard aircraft. The FAA notifies the CDC Emergency Operations Center of any of these reports received by FAA Air Traffic Services units. There are ICAO provisions regarding the use of Air Traffic Service units to facilitate communications between airborne flights and public health authorities.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.

You just read:

Press Release - FAA Statement on Ebola

Distribution channels: Aviation & Aerospace Industry

EIN Presswire's priority is author transparency. We do our best to weed out false and misleading content. The content above is the sole responsibility of the author who makes it available. If you have any complaints, kindly contact the author above.