UNMC team spends week in Uganda teaching Ebola treatment, prevention

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A team of University of Nebraska Medical Center health professionals entered Uganda to make a difference with education on how to tackle the Ebola virus.

The group of one doctor, three nurses and a respiratory therapist departed from Maryland on Sept. 25, and returned Oct. 3. Over the course of a week, they trained Ugandan medical professionals on Ebola virus treatment and prevention.

The World Health Organization reports 237 confirmed cases of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the organization predicts the virus could reach Uganda with the migration of refugees from the DRC to the country.

The team assembled in response to a request from Medical Teams International, a non-governmental organization that supports refugees fleeing the DRC to western Uganda, which is where the team was located.

UNMC has experience with the Ebola virus. During the 2014 West Africa outbreak, UNMC health professionals transported and treated infected American citizens.

In Uganda, UNMC staff treated evacuees in their biocontainment unit, a secured area where care is safely provided to the afflicted.

James Lawler, a UNMC professor, led the volunteer team and said they were prepared for the critical situation.

Lawler said the team did not treat any patients with the Ebola virus on their most recent Uganda trip; they were only there to educate.

They educated health care providers about Ebola prevention and instructed them on how to handle cases of the Ebola virus without spreading the disease.

Lawler said the team not only helped communities in Uganda, but also learned about the life of refugees in the country.

“It’s not just new refugees arriving,” Lawler said. “It’s also refugees who have already settled in Uganda and their family members who frequently go back and forth across the border.”

UNMC will continue training response teams to handle situations like the situation in Uganda. With this outreach, UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey Gold said the institution will help communities around the world who are in need of education or medical treatment.

news@dailynebraskan.com



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