The provincial BC Biocontainment Treatment Centre at Surrey Memorial Hospital has two new high-tech EpiShuttles.

The BC Biocontainment Treatment Centre at Surrey Memorial Hospital is elevating emergency preparedness with a new tool, the EpiShuttle, to transport patients with rare or emerging diseases.

The EpiShuttle is designed to isolate and transport patients with high-risk infectious diseases in  ambulances, helicopters and planes. It resembles an infant incubator with various sealed ports which allow care teams to perform emergency procedures while protecting themselves and the patient from cross-contamination.

The pod-like device has its roots in the 2014 Ebola epidemic that originated in West Africa and spread to other regions including North America. Personal protective equipment—gowns, gloves and masks—provided the primary layer of protection for repatriating health care workers who responded to the global call for assistance and contracted Ebola themselves. Lacking was a “go-to” form of isolation that would protect the infected workers and those flying with them back to their home countries.

“Ebola was the impetus for BC’s first Biocontainment Treatment Centre and the EpiShuttle—a first for B.C.—elevates our level of response, should we need to transport a patient with a high-risk pathogen,” says Tracie Jones, who manages the BC Biocontainment Treatment and Provincial Training Centre and supports emergency preparedness for Fraser Health.

Jones, along with paramedics, nurses, logistics experts, and occupational health and safety exposure prevention specialists from Fraser Health, BC Emergency Health Services and Health Emergency Management BC, recently completed training on the deployment and safe use of the EpiShuttle. They now have the skills to manage complicated, high-risk patient moves as well as the certification to train other health care professionals.

The EpiShuttles are currently on standby at the BC Biocontainment Treatment Centre’s temporary training facility at Vancouver International Airport.

Opened in 2018, the BC Biocontainment Treatment Centre is a provincial resource located at Surrey Memorial Hospital for training and treatment of patients with rare or emerging pathogens such as Ebola Virus, Marburg Virus, Lassa Virus (causes Lassa Fever), Rift Valley Fever Virus, ​Nipah Virus, as well as those that we don’t yet know about.

Being able to identify, isolate and provide information about patients who might unknowingly be carrying and spreading rare, highly infectious viruses requires careful screening and ongoing education to minimize risks.

“Asking a patient who presents with a fever if they’ve travelled in the past 30 days—because history tells us that infectious diseases are transmitted via travel—is key to preventing these pathogens from taking hold in our communities,” says Tracie Jones. “We train and plan for what we do and do not know. Global health is constantly changing and being prepared and informed is critical.”