Durban - Brave Ballito nurse, Laura Mosiah, is not one to scare easily - she is off to Sierra Leone to help fight the deadly Ebola epidemic.
The plucky 28-year-old even sees the opportunity to join the South African effort at the epicentre of the epidemic, which has already had more than 10 000 known Ebola cases, as a dream job.
And although 678 health-care workers are known to have contracted the disease and 382 have already died in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, Mosiah insists she is not scared.
“To be honest, all my life I have wanted to be involved in some humanitarian work. When I heard about this Ebola outbreak I thought this was an opportunity.”
When she saw a recruitment advertisement on the internet, she did not hesitate in applying and was called in for an interview by Right to Care, a non-profit organisation, which has recruited and trained the first round of health-care professionals to work in Sierra Leone as part of the South African initiative with the Department of Health and the Wits Health Consortium.
Mosiah will be among a group of South African medical experts, including nurses and doctors, flying to Sierra Leone later this month to help treat Ebola patients.
She is undergoing training and will go for eight weeks.
With Ebola having a fatality rate as high as 71 percent, Mosiah’s parents were “a bit worried” about her decision to go.
“I had told them last year that I wanted to go even before the Right to Care recruitment came up, so it was a dream come true,” she said.
“I am not scared at all as this intervention can help. I believe if I take extra precautions to protect myself, I will be safe.”
Mosiah has been a nurse for almost eight years and had worked in Saudi Arabia before returning home to care for her mother who had a stroke.
She believes that sending medical experts to help Sierra Leone will enhance the skills of South African experts.
“As we know there is no cure at the moment; at least I will know how to identify Ebola, how to deal with it in the early stages. This will prepare us in dealing with such diseases in this country.
“I don’t think any of us will forget the experience we come back with from there,” she predicted.
Another KwaZulu-Natal-born medical professional has just returned from Sierra Leone.
Dr Indira Govender of Doctors Without Borders returned last month and said she believed that if any health-care workers were in a position to help the Ebola response, “they should go for it”.
There was nothing to fear if they followed the rules and protocols, she said.
“Most of the local staff working in Ebola projects have been stigmatised despite their continued dedication, and because the existing health-care workers are responding to this crisis, the general services have collapsed,” she said.
Dr Pappie Majuba, chief medical officer at Right to Care, said additional health-care workers were being sought to join other missions.
The disease had struck doctors and nurses in unprecedented numbers, weakening infrastructure in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, he said.
“The latest World Health Organisation statistics state there have been more than 21 000 reported cases of Ebola in the three countries and more than 8 300 deaths,” Majuba said.
“The medical professionals who go will receive a salary, full training, flights, transfers, travel insurance and housing and are repatriated should they contract the disease.”
He added: “Time Magazine nominated Ebola fighters as Persons of the Year for 2014 for good reason.”
Majuba said the health-care staff work under high safety precautionary conditions in the Ebola treatment centre.
“The protective clothing which is worn comprises three layers of protection which includes gloves, boots and headgear and those wearing it work for no longer than 90 minute shifts,” he said.
“Infection control measures are extraordinary within the centres, therefore the risk of contracting Ebola is low. Interestingly, the risk is when people venture outside the treatment centres.”
Right to Care had contributed R3 million to the initiative with a co-ordination manager currently based in Sierra Leone to create more rapid systems to confirm cases in the country’s laboratories, Majuba said.
“FirstRand (FNB) has committed to paying for transport, international flights and transfers for this medical intervention. The private sector has… contributed.”
Daily News