With the appearance of the deadly Ebola virus in the United States, Lt. Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga has taken preventative measures and is getting American Samoa's first responders ready.

He held the first surprise Ebola Virus Emergency Simulation yesterday morning at the Port Administration according to the Lt Governor’s Executive Assistant, Solomona Auelua. Lemanu, who is also the acting governor, since Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga left Friday night for medical appointments in Honolulu, ordered the simulation.

(Samoa News understands that governor Lolo is slated to come home on Friday night’s flight.)

Solomona confirmed with Samoa News that the exercise was a surprise, as the first responder's team, which was composed of the Department of Public Health, Emergency Medical Services, Department of Homeland Security, Port Administration and the Department of Public Safety were not aware this was only an exercise.

Lemanu wanted to observe how the first responders would react if there was an actual Ebola case in the territory. According to Solomona, the Lt Governor assigned his people to the EMS Station and to the hospital, while Lemanu was present at the wharf.

“EMS, DPS, DOH and DHS acted on the belief that this was an actual possible Ebola case, but we had to find out if the protocols in place are being followed in this matter. It was a test, a test that some of the first responders passed,” said Solomona. There were many phone calls to Samoa News from those passing the Port, asking if this was an actual Ebola case.

Samoa News understands that EMS, DPS and PORT were unaware that this was a drill as information initially given to Samoa News was that it was a “possible Ebola case” on one of the fishing vessels.

The simulation took place aboard the transport vessel M/V Sili, where an individual acting as an infected person with the Ebola virus was waiting to be transported by trained first responders wearing Hazmat gear. Solomona told Samoa News the exercise was “very good” and he was very impressed with how the EMS Chief, Galumalemana Popo Avegalio handled the situation, acting as if it were a real live scenario. “EMS, the way they reacted, they came out with flying colors, if there was an award for today’s exercise, EMS should have received the award, given their reaction in a surprise circumstance," he told Samoa News.

“Popo took control from beginning to the end, he made all the necessary calls to the right people," said Solomona, adding, "One thing I noticed about the EMS — now remember they were not aware this was a drill — there was no reluctance when they were getting into their hazmat suits to come over to the wharf.”

Solomona said another issue that came forward because of this exercise is that, if this were a real live situation with an Ebola case, there should have been a consideration as to whether the infected person should leave the boat “because once you remove the infected person then you're subjecting the rest of the island.”

He said this was another issue that the DHS was told to look into, because bringing forth this person onto the wharf would subject the entire island to the virus. Solomona said when the infected person was handed over by the EMS to the hospital physician, there was a break in protocol, and it's one of the issues that was addressed during the debriefing.  He noted that the hospital needs to work on strengthening their protocols, as the patient walked into the hospital, which should not have happened.

Solomona told Samoa News that following the exercise there was a debriefing where the areas that needed improvement were addressed and the appropriate agency was informed to revise their protocols.

The World Health Organization (WHO) website, www.who.int, states that the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.

The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks. The first EVD death in the US was reported in Texas two weeks ago, with a man who came from Liberia. Two nurses, who were among his caretakers at the Texas hospital, have also become infected. One of the nurses, is currently, reported to be in ‘recovery’, while the other — according to the Associated Press — tested positive for Ebola but she had flown aboard a commercial airline the day before she fell ill, even though government guidelines should have kept her off the plane.

Amid growing concern, President Barack Obama canceled a campaign trip to address the outbreak and vowed that his administration would respond in a "much more aggressive way" to Ebola cases in the United States.

While no case has been reported in the Pacific, including Hawai’i — local residents have been concerned about the preparedness of the local health services to handle the Ebola virus. Samoa News reported last week that the Ministry of Health in Samoa has started to put its plan of response to the Ebola Virus into place, as they did when they responded to the “Chik Virus”, as well as the “Pink Eye”  — both of these viruses became problems that affected both Samoas in recent months.