THINK ON THESE THINGS:- EBOLA!!! ... Are you prepared? As the number of the Chikungunya cases in Jamaica continue to increase there are mounting concerns regarding the country’s capability to effectively control the spread of the virus. There continues to be raising speculation that the casual approach taken by authorities may have resulted in the spread of the mosquito-borne disease. The Chikungunya experience has now given rise to question the country’s ability to contain the Deadly Ebola Virus when it arrives in Jamaica. How prepared are the Health and allied services to face the impact of an epidemic of such magnitude?. As concerns mount, it may be of interest to note the current Liberian experience as outlined in a letter today:- We had reached the point where we decided to stop listening to the radio...it was too disturbing and the sense of panic that seemed to pervade the very atmosphere was threatening to overwhelm us... My colleague had started to have nightmares and I was becoming weary with the stress of trying to manage the emotional fallout of persons traumatized by fear of this war against an unseen enemy. When we are on the road, it is almost surreal to see ambulances whizzing past with blaring sirens - posters on the windshields identifying the vehicles as Rapid Ebola Response Units or insignias on the sides identifying them as First Response Units. The sight of the persons in the front - the driver and presumably a nurse - clothed in space suits (the ubiquitous names for the personal protective equipment) verifies the first thought that comes to mind - an Ebola vehicle with patients... Everywhere you go - every shop, every business place, every government office, there is what is called an Ebola bucket filled with a solution of bleach (too strong), soap (too harsh) and water (what source?) where people are required to wash their hands before entering into any establishment to conduct business. The police checkpoints now require every vehicle to stop, driver and passengers disembark and head towards the designated area for hand-washing and temperature checks. Except at checkpoints where you are well known - for us it is Irongate - no-one is spared. On a trip to Monrovia a little over two weeks ago, we saw CNN news vans stopped to undergo the now habitual ritual... Liberia is going through a major overhaul as it gets into gear to kick Ebola out! Our region of Bong County is not immune to the happenings. Phebe Hospital has reopened - albeit with limited capacity and is managing emergency, pediatric and OB/GYN cases. The outpatient department is also open and functional. The long awaited Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) is finally opened as is the Ebola Care Centre (holding centre) which is located at the regional stadium. We finally have a testing facility set up in the county so that testing can be done here with a turnaround time of 3 hours. This is a tremendous relief because previously specimens had to be sent to Monrovia and entailed a 5 day wait before results were forthcoming... It is our prayer that there will be better management of the Ebola cases and that greater preventative measures will be implemented to mitigate against the spread of the virus. Everyone should be aware of the traumatic conditions on the ground in Liberia and other places affected by the Ebola virus. Many Hospital and Clinic staff are in great fear of the Ebola virus as many of their colleague in the healthcare sector have died in the service of others. There needs to be an urgent immediate plan of action to PROTECT YOURSELF, PROTECT YOUR FAMILY and, PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY from the deadly attack of Ebola.
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 03:17:36 +0000
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