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Springdale Schools Say They Are Prepared In Case Ebola Comes To NWA

SPRINGDALE [KFSM] – Springdale Schools spokesperson Rick Schaeffer said even though the school is not expecting Ebola to come into Northwest Arkansas, the...

SPRINGDALE [KFSM] - Springdale Schools spokesperson Rick Schaeffer said even though the school is not expecting Ebola to come into Northwest Arkansas, they do have protocol in place.

"Our nurses know exactly what to do if they saw a kid that they thought had any symptoms whatsoever, they would notify the Washington County health department, and then after that it becomes a national issue," Schaeffer said.

Officials said the health department would likely contact the Center for Disease Control office in Baltimore about what to do next. Schaeffer said it would be the CDC's decision on whether to evacuate the school or take any other extreme measures.

"There's no policy on this, it's something that we have obviously never experienced, and we don't expect to experience," he said.

Naomi Layton has two young children and said she thinks the best thing that schools can do now is have a plan in place.

"I think they should keep an eye on it and start being prepared for it, especially cases like this that kind of pops up out of nowhere," Layton said.

Layton said while Ebola is something to watch out for, she thinks the hype on social media has people more concerned than they need to be. So far, two Americans have contracted the virus.

"Facebook is where it definitely goes, because somebody will post an article and whether it's true or not they will be like I don't know if it's true, but here's all this fear and it's over exaggerated completely right now," Layton said.

5NEWS also checked with Fayetteville school officials, who said the school is looking into their protocol if the situation were to occur.

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