ATLANTA (June 27, 2025) – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University Hospital participated in a nationwide four-day, large-scale patient movement exercise that involved more than 50 international, federal, state and local collaborators, designed to test and validate the nation’s  ability to move patients with highly infectious diseases safely and securely to regional treatment centers. Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital and Emory University Hospital, a part of Emory Healthcare, are two of 13 Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers in the country with specialized training and capabilities to care for patients with highly contagious infectious diseases.

The exercise, called Tranquil Passport, is the largest patient movement exercise in the history of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) involving patients with a highly contagious infectious disease. Led by the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a part of HHS, the exercise took place June 24-27 at airfields, hospitals and emergency operations centers across Washington, DC; New York, NY; Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA and Toronto. This exercise was an opportunity to test the new HHS Portable Biocontainment Unit (PBCU), the first domestic resource for isolating and transporting multiple patients with contagious infectious diseases via ground and air.

During the exercise, two patient actors were brought via plane to Raleigh and then to Atlanta by ground transport using the new PBCU, which can transport up to ten patients with highly infectious diseases at once. Once in Atlanta, one child actor with a simulated highly infectious disease was transported by Grady EMS to Arthur M. Blank Hospital and one adult actor with the same simulated disease was transported to Emory University Hospital, both of which hospitals have specially designed units to care for patients with serious communicable diseases.

The Special Care Unit (SCU) at Children’s Arthur M. Blank Hospital is unique in the Southeastern region and among few in the United States designated exclusively for the care of children with highly contagious infectious diseases. The SCU ensures that children receive comprehensive care that is safely delivered by expertly trained staff, in a high-level isolation facility. The SCU has six airborne infection isolation rooms with special features like uni-directional flow to minimize cross-contamination, designated rooms to put on and remove personal protective equipment, and a state-of-the-art audio and visual monitoring system to facilitate communication among staff providing patient care.

“Our Special Care Unit within Arthur M. Blank Hospital was specifically designed to ensure the safety of ill children and the dedicated health care team providing around-the-clock care,” said Andi Shane, MD, Division Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s. “We are excited to participate in this international exercise and ensure our specially-trained staff members are prepared to care for patients with highly contagious infectious diseases should an incident arise.”

In 2002, Emory University Hospital opened the Serious Communicable Diseases Unit in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to care for scientists and other CDC employees who travel abroad and may become exposed to infectious diseases. The 11-bed isolation unit includes three ICU rooms, two of which are connected to a large anteroom in the middle for staff monitoring, along a staff dressing room for donning PPE. All rooms contain uni-directional air flow to reduce the spread of airborne infectious diseases. A lab dedicated to the unit has been established just outside the unit. The lab has the capacity to perform lab work, tests and specimen processing for a variety of infectious agents.

“The opportunity to participate in this full-scale exercise through ASPR provides our team with valuable experience and knowledge as we test the new portable biocontainment unit for transporting patients,” says Sharon Vanairsdale Carrasco, DNP, APRN, CEN, director of the Regional Emergency Special Pathogens Treatment Center at Emory University. “Our Serious Communicable Diseases Unit team trains regularly to care for patients with high-consequence infectious diseases. We believe the PBCU will add an additional layer of protection and safety for patients and care team members when transporting patients with suspected or confirmed highly infectious diseases to regional treatment centers like ours.”

The Tranquil Passport began on June 23 in Toronto, Canada. Between June 24-27, fictional patients with a highly infectious disease will arrive at Dulles International Airport and be moved to regional treatment centers in Washington, DC; Baltimore, Maryland; New York City, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; and Raleigh, North Carolina.