CROWDED hospitals, a lack of beds and a rise in the number of people affected by Ebola did not dampen the spirit of Redland Hospital doctor Jenny Stedmon.
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Dr Stedmon returned to Australia this week after a month working for the International Federation of the Red Cross helping Ebola patients in isolation wards in the African nation of Sierra Leone.
And her take on the situation was grim.
This week the World Health Organisation put the death toll for the Ebola outbreak in West Africa at more than 3000, with the deadly virus showing signs of spreading.
“My observation was that the number of patients is not slowing down,” Dr Stedmon said.
“The mortality rate, as far as I am aware, remains at about 70 per cent and that’s with the best care that can be provided.”
She called on western governments to take the plight of the African nation seriously and send in medical workers as a matter of urgency before the disease spread into neighbouring countries.
Dr Stedmon also said isolation wards were bursting at the seams and, as there was no cure for Ebola, all doctors could do was to ensure the sick were comfortable and nourished.
Doctors dispensed vitamins and anti-malarial drugs to help patients combat other diseases. She said keeping patients well hydrated was one of the hardest tasks as Ebola caused diahorrea and vomiting and the country was very hot.
However, she said there was light at the end of the tunnel and three women survived the disease while she was in Sierra Leone.
A large part of Dr Stedmon’s daily routine was to don personal protective clothing “similar to space suits” complete with a mask, googles, gloves and gumboots so she could enter the isolation wards.
She said the clothing was very hot and after a day’s work in the ward, she would have to be sprayed and washed with chlorine.
Dr Stedmon said she was nervous the first time she went into the isolation ward, knowing the disease was spread by bodily fluids and some health workers had contracted Ebola.
She will now spend a month in quarantine at her Annerley home before returning to her job at Redland hospital where she has worked as an anaesthetist for a year.
To donate to the Australian Red Cross Ebola Outbreak Appeal: redcross.org.au