(CNN) -- Managing Ebola demands as much of our diligence in infection control practice as SARS did. And though Ebola may, in theory, be less contagious than the airborne SARS or Middle East respiratory syndrome viruses, it is spread through direct contact with infected body fluids or organs and has been demonstrably and tragically more fatal. The SARS experience in Canada, though harrowing at the time, has helped us better prepare. In 2003, 224 people in Toronto were diagnosed with SARS, and 38 people died. SARS, which stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome, had originated in China and became a worldwide epidemic.
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SARS killed 38 people in Toronto; Dr. Andrew Simor says there were lessons learned
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He says staff learned to screen patients and to suit up with protective equipment
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The rules of good hand hygiene also become vital in dealing with disease, he says
Many of the centers that have been set up for dealing with @placeholder patients there now use a buddy system to help ensure that everyone puts on and takes off personal protective equipment in the safest way possible, and we are going to be implementing that policy here.
@placeholder also taught us the importance of communication, consistent messages, and accountability for dealing with these types of wide-impact events, and of making everyone aware -- both internally to patients and staff, and externally to the community served by the hospital -- of the situation and what measures were being implemented.