Training the Next Generation of Ebola Fighters

To learn how to safely treat Ebola patients while staying alive, doctors and nurses must learn how to navigate an Ebola “maze” run by the U.S. military in Liberia. / Carol Han, USAID

Walk into the gymnasium of the Liberian National Police Training Academy and you’ll come across a maze so bizarre—and as it turns out so high-stakes—that  successfully navigating it could mean the difference between life and death.

Welcome to the nerve center of the U.S. health care worker training program. It’s a replica of an Ebola treatment unit (ETU), where doctors, nurses, hygienists, and others learn how to safely care for Ebola patients while staying alive.

The U.S.-run Ebola health care worker training takes place at the Liberian National Police Academy, where the gymnasium has been transformed into a mock Ebola treatment unit. / Carol Han, USAID

“Everything is about safety—the safety of the staff and the safety of the patients,” said U.S. Army Colonel Laura Favand, who helps oversee the Ebola health care worker training program.

During the week-long class, students first spend three days in the classroom where U.S. military doctors, nurses and medics teach them every aspect of Ebola care, from diagnosis and patient recordkeeping to proper disinfection techniques and safe handling of the dead.

Cross-contamination is the biggest threat in an ETU, which is why there’s an entire class dedicated to proper hand-washing techniques. Another critical lesson: how to take off protective suits, goggles, and gloves without inadvertently contracting the disease.

According to Colonel Favand, this is one of the most vulnerable times for Ebola health care workers.

Taking off protective suits—like what’s being done here at a USAID-supported ETU in Sierra Leone—is a vulnerable time for health care workers. That’s why so much time is spent teaching health care workers how to prevent cross-contamination. / Carol Han, USAID

“You’ll see someone getting ready to take their gloves off and their hands are shaking,” said Favand. “They know how important this is.”

Classroom time is followed by two days spent in the “mock ETU” where students are taught how to navigate in a clinical setting and practically apply all that they have learned. Actual Ebola survivors play the role of patients, offering invaluable insight into what actually happens in an ETU. According to participants, the survivors also help teach them how to communicate with patients.

Actual Ebola survivors play the role of patients at U.S. Ebola health care worker trainings, providing invaluable insight. Here, a student assesses a child patient and Ebola survivor during a training session in Greenville, Liberia under the watchful eyes of the instructor. / Col. Laura Favand, U.S. Army

“We learn some different terms in Liberian English that allows us to have a more accurate perception of the patient,” said Ephraim Palmero, medical director for the International Organization of Migration, an organization being supported by USAID to run three U.S.-built ETUs in Liberia.

“For example, instead of saying ‘how are you,’ Liberians ask, ‘how’s the body,’” Palmero explained.

On the Road: The U.S. military has deployed mobile training teams throughout Liberia to offer the same course to those who can’t travel to the main training site in the Monrovia metro area. / Carol Han, USAID

Besides running the training at the Liberian police academy, the U.S. military deploys four mobile training teams throughout Liberia to offer the same course to health care workers who are unable to make it to Monrovia.  Liberian health officials — in charge of training the next generation of Ebola health care workers — also take the class.

“I love doing this mission,” said U.S. Army Captain Alex Ailer. “I like that people here are being helped and that we are also helping local people help themselves.”

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Alexander Muniz and U.S. Army Captain Anna Bible take a break while teaching an Ebola health care training course in Harper, Liberia. They are part of a mobile training team. / Carol Han, USAID

As of early January 2015, more than 1,500 Liberian and international health care workers have taken part in the training, including several USAID partners that are now running the U.S.-built ETUs.

“The training was incredible and great for me because it alleviated my fears,” said Micaela Theisen with the International Organization for Migration. “It [made] me feel good and ready to get to work.”

Her colleague Catherine Thomas agreed.

“The staff there, their medical knowledge was very comforting to us who were just starting out.” said Thomas. “They were just great.”

From left to right: Health care workers Catherine Thomas, Micaela Theisen, and Rene Vega—all working at USAID-supported ETUs—have taken the U.S. Ebola health care worker training course. “The training was incredible and great for me because it alleviated my fears,” said Theisen. / Carol Han, USAID

The Ebola Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is overseeing the U.S. Ebola response efforts in West Africa. The DART includes staff from across the government, including USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Departments of Defense and Health and Human Services.