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U.S. Military response begins as troops, equipment reach Liberia - Update: Troop presence plans being scaled back
Re: U.S. Military response begins as troops, equipment reach Liberia
Two possible reasons for that:
1) If he went to a microscope and had to flip it up for that and forgot to put it back down when returning to the hood.
2) in some environments (high relative humidity) there can be a real problem with goggles and face shields fogging up.
On of the many advantages of a hazmat suit is that you cannot do that.
In some environments a face shield is needed only for certain activities (non biohazard environment where the shield protects against chemicals etc) and keeping it up and just flipping it down when appropriate is routine and acceptable. The problem is that if someone goes back and fourth between the two environments, flipping the face shield may become an unconscious act and happen in the wrong environment. [and consider that the "photo opportunity" might well have taken place in an environment where face shield wasn't needed except for special activities (like pouring chemicals). The photos one sees are often not the "real thing".]
This sort of thing is exactly why, in critical high risk activities like doffing the PPE, it's important to be observed by someone else whose full attention is on seeing that such unconscious errors do not occur. It's also why it takes highly unusual personal characteristics to work safely in BSL-4 labs and even then, people make mistakes. One lapse of attention is one too many.
IMHO some kind of hood (where you cannot flip up the face shield) should be required as PPE for treatment of Ebola. That would also protect the neck area.
US Army Medical Lab Joining Ebola Fight in West Africa
Oct. 23, 2014 - 04:56PM |
By JOE GOULD |
WASHINGTON ? A US Army medical laboratory designed to detect battlefield contaminants is joining the fight against Ebola in West Africa and will be deploying next week, according to an Army announcement.
The 1st Area Medical Laboratory (AML), based in Aberdeen, Maryland, will set up an unspecified number of infectious disease labs in Liberia to support Ebola screenings in West Africa.
?The 1st AML will bring state-of-the-art analyzers and experienced personnel, who will be able to enhance the identification of Ebola and other endemic diseases in an expeditious manner,? said 1st Area Medical Laboratory Commander Col. Patrick Garman...
Re: U.S. Military response begins as troops, equipment reach Liberia
Army General Takes Command of Ebola Response Operation
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26, 2014 ? Army Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, 101st Airborne Division commander, yesterday in Monrovia, Liberia assumed command of Joint Forces Command ? Operation United Assistance and the fight against Ebola in West Africa.
<!-- NEWS STORY IMAGE --><TABLE style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 5px 0px" border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD class=captions vAlign=top><TABLE border=2 cellSpacing=4 borderColor=#000000 cellPadding=4 width="100%" bgColor=#fffff5 align=right alt="photo"><TBODY><TR><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 4px; PADDING-LEFT: 4px; PADDING-RIGHT: 4px; PADDING-TOP: 4px" vAlign=top> Maj. Gen. Gary J. Volesky, Commander of the 101st Airborne Division, and Sgt. Maj. Kirk Hines, acting Command Sgt. Maj. of the 101st in Liberia, uncase their colors during the transfer of authority ceremony and assume command of Joint Forces Command Operation United Assistance in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct 25. (U.S. Army Photo) (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- /NEWS STORY IMAGE -->
In a written statement yesterday, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby noted that, d?Just 38 days ago, Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams arrived in Liberia toform an advance detachment in his capacity as commanding general, U.S.Army Africa prior to the formal establishment of this Joint Forces Command.?
In that short period, Kirby said, U.S. service members under his leadership ?have made great advances in establishing command and control capabilities for this effort, including lines of communication over very rough terrain.?
Over 1,500 samples from patients have been tested in three labs, two of which were established earlier this month, Kirby said. These labs can now provide 24-hour turn-around results, and are capable of processing up to 100 samples from clinics and healthcare providers each day.
The 25-bed hospital in Monrovia should be fully operational in the first week of November once the construction of the supporting facilities is complete, Kirby noted. Upon completion, the hospital will be staffed by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services personnel. In addition, the construction of the first Ebola Treatment Unit at Tubmanburg, Liberia, is nearing final completion. The construction on the second ETU should finish around the beginning of November and a third soon after.
In Dakar, Senegal, DoD personnel are establishing an intermediate staging base and transport hub. This week, the M/V Vega, a contracted vessel, arrived in the region to deliver some 700 containers of
support equipment for US efforts.
In total, approximately 700 U.S. service members are now deployed to West Africa, including nearly 600 in Liberia and 100 in Senegal. Over the coming weeks, that could grow to upwards of 3,900 personnel.Kirby said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ?appreciates the dedication of these service members to help fight Ebola at its source. The Department of Defense will continue to support the whole-of-government response, led by USAID, in this effort.?
U.S. Ebola fighters head to Africa, but will the military and civilian effort be enough?
By Joel Achenbach and Lena H. Sun October 25 at 7:26 PM
Hundreds of Americans have flown to Liberia in the past few days. Thousands more are on the way.
This Ebola corps is a collection of doctors, nurses, scientists, soldiers, aviators, technicians, mechanics and engineers. Many are volunteers with nonprofit organizations or the government, including uniformed doctors and nurses from the little-known U.S. Public Health Service. Most are military personnel, snapping a salute when are assigned to their mission ? ?Operation United Assistance.? It does not qualify for combat pay, only hardship-duty incentive pay, which is about $5 a day ? before taxes...
rmy Expeditionary Laboratory Team to Deploy to Liberia
By Cheryl Pellerin
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2014 ? A highly trained team of soldier-scientists who are part of an Army expeditionary laboratory unit is deploying to Liberia for up to a year to establish four labs outside Monrovia and contribute to the U.S. effort to halt Ebola outbreaks in West Africa.
The 1st Area Medical Laboratory is part of the Army?s 20th CBRNE Command based at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The 20th CBRNE?s soldiers combat chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats facing the nation. The 1st AML deploys worldwide in support of joint and combined operations to protect U.S. forces through disease surveillance and environmental testing to determine threats and environmental health hazards.
Army Col. Patrick M. Garman, 1st AML commander, spoke with DoD News about the 22-member, one-of-a-kind unit that consists of microbiologists, biochemists and laboratory technicians...
Non-military uniformed officers to treat Ebola patients in Liberia
Nov. 6, 2014 - 12:51PM |
By Gregg Zoroya
USA Today
President Obama has assured Americans that none of the nearly 4,000 U.S. troops heading to Liberia will treat Ebola patients, but 70 uniformed officers of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps will.
The corps, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, will open a clinic outside the Liberian capital, Monrovia, this weekend and is tasked with treating Liberian doctors and nurses who contract the deadly disease. It is the first time U.S. government personnel have been given that assignment, although all volunteered...
Military names 5 US bases for Ebola mission troops
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The top U.S. military officer has designated five U.S. bases where American troops would be housed and isolated for 21 days upon returning from Africa after serving in the Ebola response mission, U.S. officials said Friday.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, signed a plan that lists Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, as bases where troops would be quarantined. The U.S. also hopes to use two bases in Italy and Germany for returning troops based in that region.
Military service members are required to undergo 21 days of isolation and monitoring, while Defense Department civilians can choose to go through the quarantine period or not.
The plan exempts military personnel who travel to Africa for short-term visits and have very limited contact with people there, such as military staff traveling with a senior official who only stops in the country for a day or two. Any final decision on individual service members would be up to their senior military commanders...
19 minutes ago
Self-monitoring, no Ebola quarantine for Ramstein aircrews
By Jennifer H. Svan
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 10, 2014
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany ? When Tech. Sgt. C.J. Campbell walks in the door after a day at work, the thermometer resting on his kitchen table is a reminder that it?s been fewer than 21 days since he returned from a mission to West Africa.
The twice-daily temperature checks have become a routine part of the Ramstein-based loadmaster instructor?s daily activities.
?It?s like waking up and shaving in the morning,? Campbell said.
Days before Halloween, Campbell, 40, of St. Louis, flew on his first mission to Liberia, delivering military personnel and supplies to one of three countries battling the world?s largest epidemic of the Ebola virus.
Upon returning, public health checked his temperature and issued him a digital thermometer. So far, he said, he?s been symptom-free...
U.S. Scaling Back Troop Presence in Ebola-Hit Liberia
The Pentagon doesn?t plan to deploy the full 4,000 U.S. troops to Ebola-stricken Liberia ? scaling back the number even as the virus makes rapid gains elsewhere in West Africa. Army Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, who?s leading up the effort overseas, said the current 2,200 troops will grow to nearly 3,000 by mid-December. But the military doesn?t expect more soldiers on the ground will be necessary...
"...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party
(My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.) Never forget Excalibur.
Department of the Army Identifies ARNG and USAR Units for OUA Rotation
November 16, 2014
By Office of the Chief of Public Affairs
The Secretary of Defense has approved the mobilization of Army National Guard and Army Reserve units from 12 states in support of Operation United Assistance. The units identified below will deploy as part of the second rotation of OUA forces in spring 2015 as part of a joint and interagency team supporting the lead federal agency, USAID, as we collectively respond to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The October 2014 Executive Order authorizing the mobilization of Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve Members in support of Operation United Assistance gave the National Guard Bureau and Army Reserve advanced notification to prepare units and personnel for a possible deployment.
Mobilizing Army National Guard units include:
34th Infantry Division Headquarters, Minnesota Army National Guard
16th Engineer Brigade Headquarters, Ohio Army National Guard
223rd Military Intelligence Battalion (Linguist Detachment), California Army National Guard
272nd Engineer Company (Vertical Construction), Texas Army National Guard
294th Area Support Medical Company, Iowa Army National Guard
891st Engineer Battalion, Kansas Army National Guard
Mobilizing United States Army Reserve units include:
96th Sustainment Brigade -- Salt Lake City, Utah; and Denver, Colorado
313th Movement Control Battalion -- Baltimore, Maryland
324th Fire Fighting Detachment -- East Point, Georgia
324th Expeditionary Signal Battalion -- Granite City, Illinois
329th Survey and Design Team -- Saint Joseph, Minnesota
387th Medical Logistics Company -- Miami, Florida
398th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion -- Rockville, Maryland
452nd Preventative Medicine Team -- Miami, Florida
996th Horizontal Engineer Company -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
B Company, 412th Civil Affairs Battalion -- Columbus, Ohio
These reserve component units were selected based on their capabilities and ability to respond to the unique demands of the mission, and were done in consultation with the Chief, National Guard Bureau, and the Chief, Army Reserve. These units will mobilize under the authority of 10 USC 12304.
DOD will continue to announce major deployments as they are approved. For more information on these respective deployments, contact Lt. Col. Robert Ditchey, 703-607-2582, National Guard Bureau Public Affairs; or Lt. Col. William Ritter, 910-570-8346, U.S. Army Reserve Public Affairs.
Re: U.S. Military response begins as troops, equipment reach Liberia - Update: Troop presence plans being scaled back
Kirby: Timeline for Operation United Assistance Depends on Ebola Trend
By Nick Simeone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2014 ? The U.S. military effort to help prevent the spread of Ebola in West Africa could be extended beyond its six-month mission if there is a surge of new cases of the deadly disease, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said today.
Despite a reported drop in new cases in hardest hit Liberia, Kirby said it?s too soon to determine whether this trend will hold. ?We have to be prepared for this to go longer than six months,? he said, ?which is why the secretary authorized the call-up of more than 2,000 reserves and guard.?
More than 2,500 U.S. military personnel are in West Africa as part of Operation United Assistance, helping U.S. and international agencies battle the world?s worst Ebola outbreak by providing logistical support and training for health care workers, as well as testing fluid samples and building emergency treatment units.
?As construction gets completed, the requirement for those types of troops may decrease,? Kirby said, at which time Army Maj. General Gary J. Volesky, the commander of the mission, may decide to reduce troop levels.
The World Health Organization says Ebola has killed more than 5,400 people in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea since March. None of the American military personnel deployed as part of Operation United Assistance is involved in the direct treatment of Ebola patients.
Re: U.S. Military response begins as troops, equipment reach Liberia - Update: Troop presence plans being scaled back
U.S. officers mourn losing their 1st Ebola patient
Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY 8:48 p.m. EST November 22, 2014
MONROVIA, Liberia ? A cluster of American uniformed officers gathered in the sticky heat this week to say a prayer for a dead Liberian nurse, the first loss to Ebola at the only U.S. government-operated clinic in West Africa.
The 34-year-old nurse's death Wednesday hit the American staff hard at the clinic charged with caring for health care workers sickened by Ebola.
"She was one of us. She was a health care provider just like all of us," said Russ Bowman, 53, of Albuquerque, a lead physician here. "This is what this unit is for ? to provide care to folks ... providing care for the people of Liberia. We're here to back them up. And we weren't able to save her. And that's a tragedy."
The nurse ? whose name was not made available ? was unconscious and already failing when she arrived by ambulance the night before.
"It's a shame she wasn't here a lot earlier," said Jennifer Malia, 41, of Laytonsville, Md., a lab medical technician. "I believe we really could have helped and maybe had a different outcome."
Her arrival at such a late stage of the disease raises concerns that the new clinic, which opened Nov. 7, is not being adequately publicized by Liberian health officials. Four Liberian health workers with Ebola are being treated there. All are improving.
...
U.S. Troops Fighting Ebola Epidemic Focus on Progress over Holidays
Military.com Dec 24, 2014 | by Richard Sisk
The troops have lit a Christmas tree, received a visit from Santa and even held a "Skype Hanukkah" this holiday season, but the focus for U.S. troops in Liberia during the holidays has been on maximizing the gains they've made against the deadly Ebola epidemic.
"It's been a whole lot better of late," Army Lt. Col. David Bowlus, a chaplain with the 2,400 U.S. troops in Liberia, said by phone Tuesday from Monrovia, the Liberian capital.
About five new suspected cases of Ebola have been reported daily in recent weeks, Bowlus said, compared to more than 50 at the end of October. "We're at the point where Ebola is no longer hunting us, we're hunting it," said Bowlus, 43, of Pemberville, Ohio.
For Christmas Day, a Catholic chaplain will be going by helicopter to conduct services at outposts in Liberia for troops serving in Operation United Assistance, the mission led by the U.S. Agency for International Development to combat Ebola, Bowlus said.
...
U.S.-built Ebola treatment centers in Liberia are nearly empty as outbreak fades
By Kevin Sieff January 18 at 7:09 PM
TUBMANBURG, Liberia ? Near the hillside shelter where dozens of men and women died of Ebola, a row of green U.S. military tents sit atop a vast expanse of imported gravel. The generators hum; chlorinated water churns in brand-new containers; surveillance cameras send a live feed to a large-screen television.
There?s only one thing missing from this state-of-the-art Ebola treatment center: Ebola patients.
The U.S. military sent about 3,000 troops to West Africa to build centers like this one in recent months. They were intended as a crucial safeguard against an epidemic that flared in unpredictable, deadly waves. But as the outbreak fades in Liberia, it has become clear that the disease had already drastically subsided before the first American centers were completed. Several of the U.S.-built units haven?t seen a single patient infected with Ebola.
...
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