--- description: A Berlin hospital with a specialized isolation unit drills its procedures for taking in an Ebola patient. title: Photos: How Berlin is Prepping For Ebola Patients image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ee8ee4467992de5/69869f8813c79f779719376e/infectious-disease3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Infectious Disease](/tag/infectious-disease/) ## Infectious Disease Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # See How Berlin is Prepping For Ebola Patients ## Video: Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/G194AmTC.m3u8) (2:32)  _Published 2014-08-13. Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 18, 2014 3:18 PM CUT  Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski wear protective clothing as they demonstrate the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski wear protective clothing as they demonstrate the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014.Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 18, 2014 3:18 PM CUT As the Ebola outbreak continues to ravage West Africa with over 2,000 cases, countries across the globe are making sure they are prepared for the possibility that a patient with Ebola could the land within their borders. One such hospital is the Charite hospital in Berlin, which, like Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, has an isolation unit specifically for serious communicable diseases. Their unit has 24 beds, and the infectious disease team practices their protocol for taking in an infectious patient twice a month. Recently, they practiced their procedure for taking in an Ebola patient. Dr. Florian Steiner, an infectious disease physician at Charite hospital told TIME that their drills are conservative, and that given the fact that Ebola does not transmit in the air and is relatively hard to contract, they would likely scale down, though their drills practice full precautions. “I think we are ready,” Steiner says. “We are preparing, and working hard to be ready.” Though Dr. Steiner admits that the likelihood is low of the unit receiving an infected patient, like most hospitals around the world, they want to be ready—no matter what.  Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski wear protective clothing as they demonstrate the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images  Thomas Grosse helps quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski to put on protective clothing during a demonstration of the proceedings at the quarantine office of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images  Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski wear protective clothing as they stand in a sick room during a demonstration of the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images  Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner wears protective clothing as he works in a laboratory for blood tests during a demonstration of the proceedings at the quarantine office of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images  Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski disinfect themselves during a demonstration of the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images  Protective clothing hangs in a changing room of the quarantine office of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014. Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3111797/see-how-berlin-is-prepping-for-ebola-patients/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3111797/see-how-berlin-is-prepping-for-ebola-patients/"},"headline":"See How Berlin is Prepping For Ebola Patients","datePublished":"2014-08-18T15:18:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:53.983Z","description":"A Berlin hospital with a specialized isolation unit drills its procedures for taking in an Ebola patient.","url":"https://time.com/3111797/see-how-berlin-is-prepping-for-ebola-patients/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Berlin","ebola","Ebola outbreak"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ee8ee4467992de5/69869f8813c79f779719376e/infectious-disease3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ee8ee4467992de5/69869f8813c79f779719376e/infectious-disease3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski wear protective clothing as they demonstrate the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014.","caption":"Infectious disease specialist Florian Steiner and quarantine office leader Thomas Klotzkowski wear protective clothing as they demonstrate the proceedings at the ward of Berlin's Charite hospital on August 11, 2014.","creditText":"Tim Brakemeier—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3111797/see-how-berlin-is-prepping-for-ebola-patients/","name":"See How Berlin is Prepping For Ebola Patients"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola","description":"Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/G194AmTC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-13T23:41:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/G194AmTC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3111797/see-how-berlin-is-prepping-for-ebola-patients/","duration":"PT2M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3111797/see-how-berlin-is-prepping-for-ebola-patients/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```