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Chifu wa Malindi
Oct 27, 2014, 6:46:31 PM10/27/14
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Ebola: Experienced doctors still rare
MONROVIA, 27 October 2014 (IRIN) - The difficulty of finding doctors
with field experience is hampering international medical intervention
to help curb Ebola in West Africa. Fear of contracting the virus and
restricted air travel have also slowed the response.
During a visit to the three most affected countries that began in
Guinea this weekend, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha
Power, criticized those countries who promised to send doctors and
other aid, but have not yet delivered.
More than 240 medical workers have died of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone, according to World Health Organization (WHO), while
regular commercial flights to the affected countries have dwindled,
throttling travel and aid delivery.
[http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/137091/1/roadmapsitrep22Oct2014_eng.pdf
]
"We have a lot of people applying. but we are clear that we are taking
only experienced staff, not Ebola experience, but experience in the
field of crisis or emergencies. It is not an easy job we are facing
here," said Anja Wolz, Ebola operations adviser with Médecins Sans
Frontières (MSF).
"The problem is that we have people applying, but we don't get
experienced people. We cannot open more centres because we need
experienced people. We don't have the staff," Wolz explained.
MSF runs two Ebola treatment centres in Liberia; a 250-bed capacity
unit in the capital Monrovia and another in the northern Foya District
with 120 beds. It has a total of 1,050 local and international staff -
sufficient, it says, for the current operations.
The shortage
Foreign medical teams have so far been confirmed for 30 of the 50
Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) required for the three Ebola-hit West
Africa countries, and just a quarter of the 4,388 beds needed in the
treatment centres are available, says WHO.
Cuba, the US and the UK are among the countries that have committed
troops and medical personnel to West Africa. Aid organizations are
also receiving offers of help from individuals. Recently, world
leaders made earnest calls for more resources to curb the spread of
Ebola, which, according to the WHO tally, had claimed more than 4,900
lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by 25 October.
But why has the international medical response to what is now the
world's worst recorded Ebola outbreak been so slow? "The obstacles
were simply that there were not enough trained professionals with
Ebola response experience. Nor were there enough international NGOs
[INGOs] or NGOs with those skills," said Sambhavi Cheemalapati,
Ebola emergency response programme coordinator with the International
Medical Corps (IMC) in Liberia.
"With the various training initiatives being launched and INGOs and
NGOs joining in. the response has improved," said Cheemalapati.
The US is constructing a 25-bed medical unit near Monrovia's
international airport to cater for health staff and other aid workers
striving to beat back Ebola. The centre is set to open in early
November and will be run by some 70 staff.
"This is a critical piece. We believe that this will ensure comfort
for healthcare workers from around the globe and Liberian national
healthcare workers to engage in this fight against Ebola and be able
to feel secure that there is a high quality place of care if they were
to fall ill with Ebola," Scott Giberson of the US Public Health
Service Commissioned Corps told IRIN.
Earlier this month, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his
country would not put doctors or nurses in "harm's way" by sending
them to West Africa until "all of the risks are being properly
managed. At the moment we cannot be confident that that is the case."
[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/12/ebola-crisis-australia-wont-send-doctors-into-harms-way-abbott
]
More infection control staff needed
Currently in Liberia, there are six operational ETUs. Nine are under
construction and eight more are planned to be put up across the
country where the virus has been more devastating than in its two West
African neighbours.
In addition to the medical personnel, support staff, especially
hygienists, are crucial to the safety of patients and staff. "We need
many more infection control people. It's not just the medical staff
because when we talk about safe burials, hygiene in the centre, waste
management . it is infection control," said Wolz. "Everybody talks
about the health staff. Nobody speaks about the hygienists, the
ambulance drivers. who are all getting infected and dying."
MSF runs a two-day training for doctors coming to help with Ebola
control. But even with the training, working in a field hospital in
full protective gear trying to contain a highly infectious virus is
arduous, and the death rate is emotionally distressing.
"You have two pairs of gloves and when you have a hood on, to use a
stethoscope is very difficult. It is difficult to do a good
examination with all these gloves. You cannot really speak with the
patients. Sometimes you cannot stay longer than 40 minutes inside
because of the heat. That makes it really difficult," Wolz recounted.
"A lot of people also forget how emotional it is. You know your
patients. You know their history and you see them dying. You see the
father dying, you see the mother dying, the sister dying. It's quite
emotional. We save lives, yet you cannot do it. Some people cannot
cope with it. You feel so hopeless and frustrated."
As more Ebola treatment centres are built, more trained personnel will
be needed. WHO is conducting training for health workers at a mock
Ebola treatment centre in Liberia. IMC said it has submitted a
proposal for the funding of a training programme for organizations
that are establishing treatment units.
"Organizations will have the opportunity to send staff for a series of
didactic, simulated and hands-on sessions that will enable them to
establish and implement ETUs," said IMC's Cheemalapati.
"Individuals with the proper equipment, training and supervision can
safely work with Ebola patients. That said, there is [still] risk and
to mitigate that we do our utmost to ensure that the best protocols
and practices are followed faithfully," she added.
ob/cb
[END]
This report online: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=100764
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis:
http://www.irinnews.org/
[This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis
service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United
Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with
attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and
conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright
MONROVIA, 27 October 2014 (IRIN) - The difficulty of finding doctors
with field experience is hampering international medical intervention
to help curb Ebola in West Africa. Fear of contracting the virus and
restricted air travel have also slowed the response.
During a visit to the three most affected countries that began in
Guinea this weekend, the US ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha
Power, criticized those countries who promised to send doctors and
other aid, but have not yet delivered.
More than 240 medical workers have died of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia
and Sierra Leone, according to World Health Organization (WHO), while
regular commercial flights to the affected countries have dwindled,
throttling travel and aid delivery.
[http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/137091/1/roadmapsitrep22Oct2014_eng.pdf
]
"We have a lot of people applying. but we are clear that we are taking
only experienced staff, not Ebola experience, but experience in the
field of crisis or emergencies. It is not an easy job we are facing
here," said Anja Wolz, Ebola operations adviser with Médecins Sans
Frontières (MSF).
"The problem is that we have people applying, but we don't get
experienced people. We cannot open more centres because we need
experienced people. We don't have the staff," Wolz explained.
MSF runs two Ebola treatment centres in Liberia; a 250-bed capacity
unit in the capital Monrovia and another in the northern Foya District
with 120 beds. It has a total of 1,050 local and international staff -
sufficient, it says, for the current operations.
The shortage
Foreign medical teams have so far been confirmed for 30 of the 50
Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) required for the three Ebola-hit West
Africa countries, and just a quarter of the 4,388 beds needed in the
treatment centres are available, says WHO.
Cuba, the US and the UK are among the countries that have committed
troops and medical personnel to West Africa. Aid organizations are
also receiving offers of help from individuals. Recently, world
leaders made earnest calls for more resources to curb the spread of
Ebola, which, according to the WHO tally, had claimed more than 4,900
lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone by 25 October.
But why has the international medical response to what is now the
world's worst recorded Ebola outbreak been so slow? "The obstacles
were simply that there were not enough trained professionals with
Ebola response experience. Nor were there enough international NGOs
[INGOs] or NGOs with those skills," said Sambhavi Cheemalapati,
Ebola emergency response programme coordinator with the International
Medical Corps (IMC) in Liberia.
"With the various training initiatives being launched and INGOs and
NGOs joining in. the response has improved," said Cheemalapati.
The US is constructing a 25-bed medical unit near Monrovia's
international airport to cater for health staff and other aid workers
striving to beat back Ebola. The centre is set to open in early
November and will be run by some 70 staff.
"This is a critical piece. We believe that this will ensure comfort
for healthcare workers from around the globe and Liberian national
healthcare workers to engage in this fight against Ebola and be able
to feel secure that there is a high quality place of care if they were
to fall ill with Ebola," Scott Giberson of the US Public Health
Service Commissioned Corps told IRIN.
Earlier this month, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his
country would not put doctors or nurses in "harm's way" by sending
them to West Africa until "all of the risks are being properly
managed. At the moment we cannot be confident that that is the case."
[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/12/ebola-crisis-australia-wont-send-doctors-into-harms-way-abbott
]
More infection control staff needed
Currently in Liberia, there are six operational ETUs. Nine are under
construction and eight more are planned to be put up across the
country where the virus has been more devastating than in its two West
African neighbours.
In addition to the medical personnel, support staff, especially
hygienists, are crucial to the safety of patients and staff. "We need
many more infection control people. It's not just the medical staff
because when we talk about safe burials, hygiene in the centre, waste
management . it is infection control," said Wolz. "Everybody talks
about the health staff. Nobody speaks about the hygienists, the
ambulance drivers. who are all getting infected and dying."
MSF runs a two-day training for doctors coming to help with Ebola
control. But even with the training, working in a field hospital in
full protective gear trying to contain a highly infectious virus is
arduous, and the death rate is emotionally distressing.
"You have two pairs of gloves and when you have a hood on, to use a
stethoscope is very difficult. It is difficult to do a good
examination with all these gloves. You cannot really speak with the
patients. Sometimes you cannot stay longer than 40 minutes inside
because of the heat. That makes it really difficult," Wolz recounted.
"A lot of people also forget how emotional it is. You know your
patients. You know their history and you see them dying. You see the
father dying, you see the mother dying, the sister dying. It's quite
emotional. We save lives, yet you cannot do it. Some people cannot
cope with it. You feel so hopeless and frustrated."
As more Ebola treatment centres are built, more trained personnel will
be needed. WHO is conducting training for health workers at a mock
Ebola treatment centre in Liberia. IMC said it has submitted a
proposal for the funding of a training programme for organizations
that are establishing treatment units.
"Organizations will have the opportunity to send staff for a series of
didactic, simulated and hands-on sessions that will enable them to
establish and implement ETUs," said IMC's Cheemalapati.
"Individuals with the proper equipment, training and supervision can
safely work with Ebola patients. That said, there is [still] risk and
to mitigate that we do our utmost to ensure that the best protocols
and practices are followed faithfully," she added.
ob/cb
[END]
This report online: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=100764
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis:
http://www.irinnews.org/
[This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis
service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United
Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with
attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and
conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright
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