The state Medical Examiner’s Office says it’s not equipped to handle a potential Ebola death in Oklahoma.
The ME’s chief administrative officer Amy Elliot told the Oklahoma Funeral Board yesterday a lack of ventilation is part of the problem in the current cramped and deteriorating facilities.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the ME’s office to avoid conducting an autopsy if a case of Ebola is diagnosed in Oklahoma and the patient dies.
Elliot said the proposed new medical examiner’s office won’t have the Bio Safety Level Three lab required to deal with an Ebola case, since it would’ve added $2.2 million to the $40 million project.
The conversation between the ME's office and the Funeral Board came a day after Gov. Mary Fallin rejected a call by state Rep. Mike Ritze (R-Broken Arrow) to declare a catastrophic health emergency in Oklahoma.
Fallin's spokesman Alex Weintz says declaring an emergency when no Oklahomans are actually sick would be premature.
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