We started our official cold training today. In many ways, it is like a medical conference anywhere. It has classroom instruction on the Ebola virus, transmission, treatment etc with handouts. It even has the usual pre conference snacks and scheduled coffee breaks. But it is also different. 1/3 of the class consists of expats, mostly from Sweden, Germany, Ireland, the US and Australia with the rest of the class from Liberia. Many different organizations are represented, including the Red Cross, Carnitas, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Activity and local Ministry of Health organizations. The classes are held in a large non air conditioned tent with roaring fans in the second half of an ETU compound that was never utilized. Overall, it was pretty obvious that we weren't in the US.
Liberian English is a little difficult. Not so much the idioms, but the pronunciation and diction are different. Couple that with some of my high frequency hearing loss, and it can be a bit of a struggle to get the full meaning. However, it is even more difficult for the Swedes and Germans to understand a different variant of a second language. Thankfully, there are good handouts and the language does become easier to understand the more you hear. That and motivated students.
One point raised during one of the Personal Protection talks was to remove all rings when working in an ETU. Anything that can harbor contamination or induce even microscopic injury to the skin must be avoided. Those could increase their risk of infection if there was a breach in PPE. I guess I will be ring free for a while for the first time in 37 years (sorry Jo).
More classes through the rest of the week are coupled with practice in our PPE. Thank you everyone for your support.
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