Fighting back against a mass killer like Ebola seems almost too sane for these times. We are committing up to 30,000 military [that's 3,000 -- see comments below] and three quarters of a billion dollars to the new "war", starting in Liberia where the disease is rampant.
The command will help oversee and coordinate U.S. and international relief efforts while a new, separate regional staging base will help accelerate transportation of urgently needed equipment, supplies and personnel.
In addition, the Pentagon will send engineers to set up 17 treatment centers in Liberia — each with a 100-bed capacity — as well as medical personnel to train up to 500 health-care workers a week in the region.
The president’s decision to enlist the U.S. military, whose resources are already under strain as it responds to conflicts in the Middle East, reflects the growing concern of U.S. officials that, unless greater force is brought to bear, the epidemic could wreak havoc on the continent. ...WaPo
And, presumably, beyond.
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Training for medical workers will begin in Alabama where the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are opening a 3-day course for qualified medical professionals based on training courses set up by Médecins Sans Frontières.
Cuba -- a country well known for medical training -- is joining the effort, according to webMD.
The course offered by the CDC is modeled on the training provided by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders. Among other things, instructors will teach participants to safely put on and take off the full-body personal protective equipment that doctors must wear around highly infectious patients. It will also teach the buddy system that MSF uses to help keep its doctors safe. Partners are taught to watch each other as they don the gear to make sure no steps are missed.
“This is an unprecedented event that’s occurring,” says John Brooks, MD. He's an infectious disease specialist with the CDC who is in charge of the program. “The call for people who can provide medical care to the hundreds of patients who have Ebola virus disease, it’s a big call. The first step in getting people to go care for these people is to provide them with the proper training to make sure they themselves don’t get infected and can provide that care safely.”
Brooks says the greatest need is for mid-level care providers like nurses and physician assistants.
“There may be a misperception that the kind of care that people need for Ebola virus disease is intensive-level ICU care. That’s the ideal,” Brooks says. “But that’s simply not available in these countries.” ...webMD
