Health care workers need help against Ebola, too

More than 200 health care workers have died from Ebola since the outbreak occurred in West Africa, with more than 400 infected with the virus. While Liberia and Sierra Leone have been hit the hardest when it comes to treatment staff, anywhere Ebola has been reported,  health care workers are among those suffering.

SEE ALSO: How the CDC let Ebola become airborne?literally

Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian group dedicated to providing medical care for those who need it most, has been hit as well, reporting they have lost 9 individuals to the virus and have had 19 people become ill. The group indicates they are in desperate need of supplies, but the global community seems to forget that staff are also needed to keep the Ebola epidemic under control. Unfortunately, aid that has been promised is slow-coming, and some important organizations are missing from the issue completely.

“Where is WHO Africa? Where is the African Union?” asked the head of Doctors Without Borders in South Africa, Sharon Ekambaram, in a press conference reported by Forbes. “We’ve all heard their promises in the media but have seen very little on the ground.”

In this way, Ebola has a unique survival ability that should be taken into account. If health care workers are infected at rates higher than new staff are brought in, eventually there will not be enough people to treat the masses who are already being turned away due to inadequate facilities and supplies.

Even in the United States, where technology and preparedness is supposed to be above and beyond, health care workers are sick with Ebola. Two Texas nurses have been diagnosed with the virus after caring for a patient without proper protective gear. While it is comforting to think that this was merely an oversight and mistakes won’t be repeated, how many other hospitals would have made the same error? At what point will all staff have to wear protective gear at all times on the chance a patient with a fever walks through the door and has Ebola?

Mistakes that lead to exposure are one thing, but finding replacement doctors and nurses is another. Doctors Without Borders is comprised of a unique group of individuals who dedicate their lives to helping people in other areas of the world overcome deadly diseases. It is a volunteer position, and with Ebola mortality rates at about 50 percent, it is difficult to find other members of the medical community willing to take on the risk and mental burden of caring for Ebola patents.

SEE ALSO: Ebola: Why is it different from dengue hemorrhagic fever?

Doctors are also faced with difficult, often heartbreaking decisions for the sake of the community, such as turning away pregnant women with Ebola because of how high the likelihood of passing on Ebola is in that medical situation.

“The hardest part is that you never get a break from thinking about Ebola,” Juli Switala, a Doctors Without Borders staff member, told the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. Switala’s unit was one that had to make the decision not to treat pregnant women or to resuscitate babies who were not newborn because of the risk posed to medical staff.

Such decisions weigh heavily on doctors and staff, increasing the risk workers will leave or have a breakdown that prevents them from continuing work. Though a cure, vaccine and treatment methods are all vital in the Ebola crisis, without health care workers to administer them, the virus will continue to flourish.