Adventist Church’s Ebola response highlights coordinated effort

The Seventh-day Adventist Churchs coordinated response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa includes eradication projects in the affected countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as support for several hospitals and more than two-dozen schools, most of which still remain closed.

Support has come from throughout the denominations international network, including its world headquarters, Health Ministries department, Loma Linda University, Adventist Health International, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Hope for Humanity, as well as schools, hospitals, churches and individual donors.

In December, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) established a position to coordinate response efforts among Adventist entities worldwide.

ADRA and other Adventist entities havent worked together in quite this way before, but there hasnt been a crisis like the Ebola crisis before, said Elizabeth Foulkes, ADRAs Ebola Response Coordinator. Obviously everyone together can do more than everyone alone.

The Adventist Church in particular, as a global church with congregations and institutions around the world, has somewhat of an advantage over other [non-governmental organizations] in that almost anywhere you go, there are already people on the ground, be they from the churches, divisions, unions, conferences, missions, schools, hospitals or ADRA, Foulkes said.

Contributions are making a difference on the ground, she added.

This week representatives from ADRA International, Adventist Health International, and the Loma Linda University International Behavioral Health Trauma Team met in Loma Linda, California, United States, to discuss how they can best work together in responding to the Ebola crisis and future emergencies.

Clinical response provides care to Ebola patients and others

In Sierra Leone, ADRA is managing decontamination teams to spray homes and replace infected mattresses and bedding in neighborhoods on the outskirts of Freetown, the nations capital.

Waterloo Adventist Hospital in Sierra Leone continues to operate as an Ebola Treatment Center supported by the World Health Organization and the Cuban Medical Brigade, according to a recent ADRA Ebola Situation Report.

Waterloo is in need of major plumbing repairs due to the effects of chlorine used to sanitize the facility. The hospital is also in need of clothing for patients, as Ebola patients must surrender their clothing to be burned. The hospital has had to discharge some Ebola survivors in clinical scrubs.

An ADRA network proposal is being drafted to address needs at Waterloo.

In Liberia, Cooper Adventist Hospital closed in quarantine for a month last year after two staff members contracted Ebola. It has since re-opened and is one of the few operational hospitals in the region to serve as a non-Ebola treatment center, Gaede said.

Several volunteer U.S.-based physicians have served several-month stints working at Cooper.

ADRA Canada and ADRA UK are supporting the Masanga Hospital in Sierra Leones Tonkolili district. The hospital is using virtual reality gaming technology to teach safety protocols for dealing with Ebola, such as wearing protective equipment and burial procedures.

Nearly 23,253 people have been infected and nearly 9,380 people have died from Ebola since the outbreak last March, according to a February 18 update from the World Health Organization (WHO).

A WHO representative last week emphasized that containment efforts are crucial over the next month in order to stay ahead of the rainy season.

If we cant substantially reduce the geographic extent of this outbreak within the next two months, before the rainy season begins in late March or April, we will be in a particularly difficult situation, Bruce Aylward, the WHOs special representative for Ebola Response, wrote on a UN blog last week.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids and tissue of an infected person. Those most at risk are healthcare staff and family members caring for someone infected with the virus, according to the WHO. Case fatalities range from 25 percent to 90 percent depending on the amount of treatment available.

Adventist health leaders urged members not to forget the lingering epidemic that still wreaks havoc in West Africa despite declining news coverage.

Even though it is far away, continued interest in the Ebola epidemic leads to people joining together to help those in need, http://news.adventist.org/all-news/news/go/2015-02-20/adventist-churchs-ebola-response-highlights-coordinated-effort/