EBOLA MEDICS

Ebola medics 'better trained in Sierra Leone than Spain'

A top Spanish doctor says nurses in West Africa are more rigorously trained to avoid the infection and detect Ebola symptoms than in his native Madrid 

A leading Spanish doctor who is fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has said training for medics in Sierra Leone was more rigorous than that given in Spain.

Jota Echevarria, a senior health coordinator for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), expressed dismay at the measures being used in his native Madrid to contain the outbreak, claiming Spain had failed to carry out correct containment measures.

“I can tell you that [in Sierra Leone] all medical staff charged with treating patients suspected of Ebola have rigorous training, most of all in how to put on and take off the protective suits,” said the 62-year old doctor, who is is currently in the west African country to set up a treatment and isolation clinic.

Speaking to The Telegraph from Freetown, the doctor with more than 25 years experience in humanitarian crises around the world explained: “It takes ten to 14 days to become fully trained in wearing a special protective suit. It is hard to put on and even harder to remove and that is where the biggest danger of infection lies.”

His comments after Maria Teresa Romero Ramos, an auxiliary nurse on a specialist team charged with treating two missionary priests who had been repatriated from West Africa, became the first person to contract Ebola in Europe.