Major articlePlanning and response to Ebola virus disease: An integrated approach

- Ebola readiness requires complex tasks that are best assigned to specific persons.
- Tasks are optimally assigned to individuals with specialized skills.
- A leadership team is a model for Ebola readiness.
- A modified incident command structure is a framework for Ebola response.

The care of patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD) requires the application of critical care medicine principles under conditions of stringent infection control precautions. The care of patients with EVD requires a number of elements in terms of physical layout, personal protective apparel, and other equipment. Provision of care is demanding in terms of depth of staff and training. The key to safely providing such care is a system that brings many valuable skills to the table, and allows communication between these individuals. We present our approach to leadership structure and function-a variation of incident command-in providing care to 3 patients with EVD.