HEALTH NANCY WRITEBOL / SIMS PRESSER TODAY ON EBOLA IN LIBERIA

[Countrymouse]

(this is a copy of my posts on the bi-weekly Ebola thread; this news conference came up so suddenly--I only discovered it was happening about a minute before it came on--that I had no time then to start another thread. I'm putting all posts from that presser here, plus another press conference is scheduled at 2:30 pm EDT. Don't know if the WCNC link will carry it, but will check in at 2:30. Mods---please feel free either to delete my posts on the regular ebola thread, listed below, or to tell me to & I will do so, if you don't want them in both places. Thanks.)

Apparently Nancy Writebol is about to give a speech (from 'somewhere')---

Archith Seshadri @archithseshadri · 8m

Packed house here at SIM's headquarters before Writebol speaks on her #Ebola experience


Archith Seshadri @archithseshadri · 1m

It's been 2 weeks since Charlotte missionary Nancy Writebol was released from Emory. She'll speak about #Ebola soon

Archith Seshadri ‏@archithseshadri

Nancy and David Writebol are here to talk about how it was for them to deal with Ebola #ebola

Archith Seshadri @archithseshadri · 24s

Nancy is here on the podium at SIM

SIM USA will host a news conference with Nancy Writebol. Writebol is expected to deliver a prepared statement, and is not expected to take questions. When Writebol is finished, SIM's President, Bruce Johnson, will hold a press conference on the new Ebola patient.


Am trying to see if I can find this live----

 

[Countrymouse]

LIVE on www.wsbradio.com


click listen live


NOT on any Atlanta TV stations....

ETA---I don 't know WHAT THE HECK is wrong is WSB---I HEAR this news conference on my radio (Nancy Writebol's HUSBAND is speaking right now) but on the livestream link online for WSB radio all I get is one commercial after another.

Sorry folks--I've called the station & they're checking it out....

 

[Countrymouse]

Husband is giving mostly a "sharing of his faith" speech about God's faithfulness in all they're gone through....

Nancy Writebol now speaking....

 

[Countrymouse]

Link fixed now---you can hear it at http://streaming.wsbradio.com/_players/coxradio/index.php?callsign=WSBAM

 

[Countrymouse]

She's saying "this is not our story, it's God's story"

Thanking Samaritan's Purse, SIM, etc.

Says these orgs are all on one campus together & are partners & as such "help one another"

Thanking doctors, Dr. Brantley...

Amazing to be part of a mission hospital

Giving history of SIM in Liberia----60 years hospital there, radio station, school est. by SIM

 

[Countrymouse]

Amazing to be part of effort there in Liberia

Amazing to be part of "decontaminating them" and making "sure those doctors and nurses were kept safe" (is that what she did there?)

Thanking Emory doctors and nurses (mentions it was 25 nurses)

Thanking all who have prayed for them

 

[Countrymouse]

Now thanking family, sons & daughters, "first faces I saw when I arrived in Atlanta"

"I can't wait to put my arms around all of my children and all of my grandchildren"---so she HAS been in quarantine?

(gives the lie to the Emory / CDC announcement day Dr. Brantley that they BOTH were "completely healed" and no longer contagious)

 

[Countrymouse]

they just cut off the live news conference (on WSB radio Atlanta---home of CDC)----did she say something she shouldn't have when she said the above????

 

[Countrymouse]

YOU CAN STILL WATCH IT HERE---LIVE OUT OF CHARLOTTE NC:

http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/heal...ident-speak-on-latest-ebola-patient/15013597/

 

[Countrymouse]

She's now telling how she first realized she had eobla---about husband telling her Dr. Brantley had it--and telling her SHE had it

Her husband started to hug her & she stopped him

She told him, "David it's gonna be ok"

 

[Countrymouse]

Now they're talking about the "dark days" following her diagnosis--

when she was transported to the plane in Monrovia to be taken to the U.S.

she was very, very sick

"in and out of it"

they had to get her on plane by loading her on baggage conveyor belt (she couldn't walk)

everyone with her, plus her, in PP gear

told her "Nancy, you're going home...we'll take good care of you"---that's all she remembers of trip home

Wasn't even sure she'd make it to the US or see husband again

 

[Countrymouse]

She felt Lord was asking her, "Nancy, am I enough?" and she answered, "Yes, Lord, You are enough."

SIM director (forget his name) is asking her to share a "moment of resolve" she had at Emory--

she says first few days "I wasn't there"--too out of it

Doctors had told David and her sons that due to the pain she was having in her legs and in her feet they didn't know if she would be able to walk, and might have to go to physical therapy after Emory to regain ability to walk.

(I had NOT heard of THIS effect of ebola!)

She woke one morning in Emory and sensed the Lord telling her, "Get up. This is the day you're going to get up!"--and she was determined to make it to the shower to take a bath...and she did (with nurse's help).

Every day from that point she was able to get up and walk -- sometimes with help & sometimes not.


SIMS director is leading them in prayer.

 

[Countrymouse]

One question she had been asked by many people

"What do you think saved you? Was it the zmapp drug? the supportive care? The Liberian and US health care people? or was it your faith?"

Her answer is "All of the above. To God be the glory--He gives us life, He numbers our days....but He uses means, He uses doctors, He uses experimental drugs---we don't know if the zmapp worked or not--and the doctors will tell you that--- we don't know if it was the supportive care---all of those things played a part in saving our lives. To God be the glory, and thank you for allowing me to have this time to share with you our story, which is really God's story. To God be the glory."

 

[Countrymouse]

Will Elfic, SIM Liberia country director, now to speak---

he just said one of their own SIM medical doctors has NOW TESTED POSITIVE (so Dr. Brantley wasn't directly with SIM?)

 

[Countrymouse]

One of our SIM missionary doctors has Ebola

Dr. Rick Sacra

51 yo

wife Debbie

SIM missionary doctor

Liberia country director at one point

Director of SIM ELWA hospital

 

[Countrymouse]

Rick TRAVELS BACK AND FORTH TO LIBERIA

Volunteered to go to Liberia when Dr. Brantley and Nancy Writebol had to be evacuated out

WAS NOT CARING FOR EBOLA PATIENTS

WAS SERVING IN OBSTETICS WARD---CARING FOR PREGNANT WOMEN DELIVERING BABIES BY C-SECTION AND NATURAL BIRTH

 

[Countrymouse]

130 ACRE CAMPUS IN LIBERIA --- LARGEST THERE-- 50 BED

BEING RUN BY SIM

100 BED UNIT BEING RUN BY MSF (DWB)

NOT SURE OF CONTACT POINT OR HOW DR. SACRA CONTRACTED EBOLA

STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT EBOLA SYMPTOMS WERE "MASKED" AND NOT PRESENTING WITH PATIENT WHO WAS ADMITTED AND CARED FOR

ARE COOPERATING WITH CDC

WOULD LIKE CONFIRMATION ON CONTACT POINT WTIH DR. SACRA TO PREVENT IT HAPPENING TO OTHERS IN THE FUTURE

DR. SACRA TOLD HIM IN AN EMAIL HE WAS FOLLOWING ALL PROTOCOLS AND PRECAUTIONS

"Heartening" news that 12 patients had walked away cured from their treatment center (doesn't say out of who many who died and DIDN'T die)

SAYS THAT ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR DOCTORS IS ON WAY TO LIBERIA TO CARE FOR RICK AND OTHER EBOLA PATIENTS

 

[Countrymouse]

Question whether there are plans to bring Rick back to US for treatment---"we're exploring all options but for right now plans are to treat Rick there in Liberia."

He is communicating with them & with his wife via his cell phone and computer.

He's in good spirits but "your body may not be responding to your good spirits and how you feel about yourself."

"Our understanding is there is no more zmapp in the world."

Question how many were going back---two---Dr. Sacra and the (unnamed) Dr. who is right now flying back to Liberia.

"Does it concern you that one of the two who volunteered has contracted the disease and you are asking others to go back?"

Wil Elfic compares it to a firefighter going back into a burning house to rescue people, instead of standing by...

 

[Countrymouse]

SIM has 250 people on campus---some work at radio station or with Samaritan's Purse, not all with ebola patients

They've talked to Dr. Sacra's wife Debbie--she's holding up very well

Repeats they knew the protocols were in place and "Rick was following those very well."

Was asked to compare this doctor's condition to Brantley's and Writebols---said "one day does not predict the next day"---and that the disease acts VERY DIFFERENTLY with different patients---one case cannot predict another

 

[Countrymouse]

reporters there are from NBC, CBS, CNN, all over.

THEY ASKED ABOUT ISOLATION OF DR. SACRA---"he's in an isolation ward; getting the best care that can be done under the circumstances"

 

[Countrymouse]

"Dr. Jerry Brown is medical director at Elwa Hospital"

"They have great need of medical support (infrastructure) to make sure we can give people the best care that we can."

Reporter asked if cost was the reason this Dr. isn't being brought back. Spokesman said their expenses are high and continue, but "we want to be able to care for the people and care for the situation."

Over 200 of their staff still there & working.

reporter asking about PPE---are doctors / nurses who are NOT working in the Ebola unit wearing PPE?

When patients come to hospital, they are triaged---if they have any fever, they are sent to Ebola unit for testing; if no fever, they are sent on to other areas of the hospital---they are "trying" to keep the obstetics ward open, because so many of the hospitals are now shut down and people need the care and if they can't get the care they will die. Spoke of c-sections, appendix, etc.

Asked question again---"there are added precautions--gloves, gowns"---but still he did not say if doctors in OTHER areas of hospital were wearing full Ebola PPE


"We are not in conversation with Emory hospital"

Said THEY WERE FOLLOWING ALL CDC AND MSF/DWB PROTOCOLS.

AGAIN ASKED if doctor would have been wearing protective gear even if he wasn't dealing with ebola patients


current "isolation" unit was formerly a LAUNDRY area---they have 43 people in isolation unit---"it is....overcrowded" he said....

 

[Countrymouse]

bag of rice before ebola in Liberia cost $45 / bag---is now $65 a bag


people are fearful....

 

[Countrymouse]

reporter asked about timeline--

Dr. starting feeling ill Friday evening---was monitoring temperature---Fri. and Sat. noticed temp going up; continued to monitor Sat. and Sun.

On Monday, they administered Ebola test---CDC runs the lab---test came back positive.

Dr. self-isolated himself from time his temp first went up; when test came back positive, he placed himself in isolation ward at hospital.

 

[Countrymouse]

Reporter asked about CDC statement that ebola is "spiraling out of control" and asked his thoughts---

"I would agree with that."

He quotes Frieden's "window of opportunity" statement.

"This is not a time to sit on the sidelines and watch this wildfire happen."

Urging world response.

Over 200 medical professionals in west africa have contracted ebola.

"There have been evacuations to the UK--health worker there---Spain, Germany, and the United States."

Need medical people around the world to respond to this.

 

[Countrymouse]

SIM is not invited to / planning to be at the WHO meeting at Geneva, Switzerland tomorrow about ebola.

 

[Countrymouse]

Can't speak to Dr. Sacra's treatment, since they don't have zmapp to give him---will leave that to his doctors.

Concluding remarks--

there will be a 2:30 pm (EDT) press conference---(try same link--this is a Chalotte news station--WCNC--
http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/heal...ident-speak-on-latest-ebola-patient/15013597/ )


SIMusa.org---has bios on Dr. Sacra, on Wil Elkins, on others there at SIM

END OF PRESS CONFERENCE

 

[Wise Owl]

Great job of reporting the pressor, CM. We can't stream from here so I was very happy to get the dialogue via you. Thanks for being a fast typist !

 

[AlaskaSue]

Thank you CM ~ Seems more questions went unanswered here..

 

[Countrymouse]

Great job of reporting the pressor, CM. We can't stream from here so I was very happy to get the dialogue via you. Thanks for being a fast typist !

You're welcome! (but you should have seen it before I corrected all the typos! Dyslexia is NOT my friend! )

 

[Ben Sunday]

As a sidebar from a former radio person....stations often cut press conferences, usually due to other network or commercial obligation.

In general, the first 5 or 10 minutes is the meat of the material, especially if no questions are being taken by that specific speaker.

Others carried the event as you transcribed (nice job, btw) so I would not invest too much time or energy in pursuit of some media coverup.

 

[Countrymouse]

As a sidebar from a former radio person....stations often cut press conferences, usually due to other network or commercial obligation.

In general, the first 5 or 10 minutes is the meat of the material, especially if no questions are being taken by that specific speaker.

Others carried the event as you transcribed (nice job, btw) so I would not invest too much time or energy in pursuit of some media coverup.

Actually, there was a question-and-answer session after Nancy Writebol's comments, and THAT was truly the meat of the presser, where most of the current on-the-ground ebola info was shared.

And as I mentioned, the MAIN news outlets all had their reps there---I kept hearing, "This is so and so of NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Reuters, AP..." etc.---

so cutting away, JUST as it was getting to the MEAT of the issue, is very odd.

Especially since this is ATLANTA--where she was brought to be cured, and her recovery is a huge cherry in the hat for Emory and the CDC, which of course is headquartered here---

so, truly, it makes NO sense that they interrupted the presser, LITERALLY in the middle of one of her sentences, within the next minute after she made the comment of "I can't wait to hug my children and grandchildren again"-----which, if she has NOT done that up to now, can ONLY mean they HAD HER IN QUARANTINE.

But that would be a DIRECT CONTRADICTION of what CDC and Emory said about her and Dr. Brantley the day the latter was released---that both were "completely cured" and "no longer posed any health threat" and were NOT contagious.


Subsequent news snippets on WSB radio at the top / bottom of the hours have not even MENTIONED that there even WAS a further news conference that went on at SIMS with the "Country Representative" of SIMS in Liberia, and of course only the most innocuous of Nancy's statements (thanking God and Emory for her recovery) have been re-played.

Yet when they were here, coverage was wall-to-wall.

As for "others carrying it"---well, did YOU hear of any news of this upcoming press conference for today?

I only found out about it BY ACCIDENT because I happened to be looking at the twitter account someone here gave me that is a good source of latest breaking ebola news (https://twitter.com/search?q=#Ebola&f=realtime) and even then I ONLY found out about a minute before it started.

PLUS, NO other Atlanta stations even bothered to carry this---again, after wall-to-wall coverage when they were here at Emory---you'd think they'd WANT to continue the pat-yourself-on-the-back publicity----but NOT ONE Atlanta TV outlet carried it---only the little local TV station in Charlotte, NC.


Knowing what I know of the CDC---do I believe this is a deliberate suppression of what she said, and of the SIMS news conference?


what you YOU think?

 

[Countrymouse]

Cannot find any live links so far to the SIM press conference that they said they'd have at 2:30 EDT today.

Interestingly enough, a couple of the links that SUPPOSEDLY led to THIS MORNING'S press conference with Nancy Writebol---at NBC---are ALREADY bad / dead links.

Such as:

Watch Live: Nancy Writebol Makes Statement -- 11a ET
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/eb...nancy-writebol-makes-statement-11a-et-n194591

That's kinda quick, doncha think?


Only thing I could find---and it's just a snippet, not the full conference---was the following from the Charlotte Observer, which had a couple of 4-minute segments, one from Nancy & one from her husband David:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...e-missionary-nancy-writebol.html#.VAdhxGMXO3M (VIDEOS AT LINK)

In her first public appearance since leaving an Atlanta hospital last month, Charlotte missionary Nancy Writebol told reporters Wednesday there were times when she thought she wouldn’t survive the Ebola virus infection she contracted in Liberia this summer.

When she was flown to Atlanta in a specially equpped plane in early August, she recalled lying on a stretcher, wearing a white protective suit, and being accompanied by doctors and other health-care workers who also wore protective gear.

One of the doctors assured her, “Nancy, you’re going home. We’ll take really good care of you.”

But she recalled thinking: “I don’t even know if I’m going to make it to the United States. I don’t even know if I’m going to see my dear husband again.”

But she did survive. Two weeks later, on Aug. 19, she was discharged from Emory University Hospital, where she had been treated in an isolation unit, along with Dr. Kent Brantly, the other American missionary who had contracted Ebola in Liberia. Doctors said both were clear of the often-deadly virus and were no longer infectious to others.

On Wednesday, as Nancy appeared with her husband, David Writebol, also a missionary, at the Charlotte headquarters of SIM USA, the international charity that sponsored their work in West Africa, they were saddened by the news that another of their colleagues has become infected.

SIM President Bruce Johnson released the name of a third American missionary, also a physician, who has contracted the Ebola virus in Liberia. He is Dr. Rick Sacra, 51, from the Boston area. He had volunteered to work at SIM’s ELWA hospital in Liberia after Brantly and Nancy Writebol became ill. But he was treating obstetrics patients at the hospital in an area separate from the isolation unit for Ebola patients.

Sacra is currently hospitalized in that ELWA isolation unit, and it is not clear whether he will be flown to the United States for treatment.

David Writebol was released from quarantine Aug. 17 without developing symptoms after being exposed to Ebola through his wife.

Both Nancy Writebol and Brantly received scarce doses of an experimental drug called ZMapp that had never been tested in humans. When asked if Sacra might also receive that drug, SIM president Bruce Johnson said his understanding is that “there is no more ZMapp in the world.”

Nancy Writebol, 59, left the Emory hospital two after doctors declared her cured of the often-deadly infectious disease and said she could return to a normal life with “no public health threat.”

She is one of two American missionaries who were flown to Atlanta in early August to undergo treatment at an isolation unit at Emory. Nancy Writebol and Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, a missionary doctor for Boone-based Samaritan’s Purse, are the first two Ebola patients to be treated in the United States. And both have attributed their survival to the expertise of their health-care teams and to God.

Both Nancy Writebol and Brantly received doses of an experimental drug, ZMapp, and Brantly received a blood transfusion in Liberia from a teenager who survived Ebola infection. But health officials have said they don’t know whether those treatments contributed to the missionaries’ recovery.

Writebol and Brantly were infected while working at SIM’s ELWA hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, where Brantly cared for Ebola patients and Nancy Writebol helped decontaminate protective gear worn by health care workers when they treated patients.

David Writebol said he had read to his wife from Phillippians when she was lying in bed in Liberia, weakened from her infection. The Bible verse was about how people believed Paul’s mission had failed. But Paul wrote from his jail cell that “what has happened to me has served to advance the Gospel.”

David Writebol said it reminded him of their story. “People were thinking this is the end. Our mission has failed,” but instead, he said, Nancy’s recovery helps spread the Christian message. “We want to give God all the credit,” he said.

The Writebols thanked many people who had helped them along the way, from the doctors and health-care workers in Liberia, to the doctors and nurses at Emory, to the countless friends and strangers who said prayers and sent cards.

“Nancy and I are going to continue to enjoy a season of rest and recuperation,” David Writebol said. But he added that they will be ready for “another chapter” when she is stronger and they are waiting to see “what God has for us in our next mission.”

Health officials have said they don’t know how Nancy Writebol or Brantly contracted the virus because they were following infection control protocols devised by the CDC and the World Health Organization. SIM officials said they also do not know how the second American doctor was infected.

More than 3,000 Ebola cases have been reported in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, and 1,552 have died, for a mortality rate of about 50 percent, according to the CDC. The virus is spread through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people who are having symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...ancy-writebol.html#.VAdhxGMXO3M#storylink=cpy


Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...ancy-writebol.html#.VAdhxGMXO3M#storylink=cpy

I also found this one lone reference, dated today, for the news conference, from a source I've never heard of:
NOTE THE LAST SENTENCE!!!



http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_26457814/missionary-infected-ebola-discuss-recovery

Missionary infected with Ebola to discuss recovery
Associated Press ,
Posted: 09/03/2014 05:59:53 AM EDT0 Comments

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- After weeks of battling Ebola, a North Carolina missionary was planning to talk publicly for the first time about her fight to survive the deadly virus.

Nancy Writebol and her husband, David, planned to hold a news conference Wednesday at the SIM USA charity’s sprawling campus south of Charlotte. The news conference comes one day after the charity announced that an American doctor treating obstetrics patients at its hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, has tested positive for Ebola.

The Writebols left their home last year for missionary work at a clinic in Liberia, where Nancy Writebol’s duties included disinfecting staff entering or leaving the Ebola treatment area. After she was infected, Nancy Writebol, 59, was flown to the United States and kept in isolation at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

She was released Aug. 19 and has been spending time with her husband at an undisclosed location. Her husband was quarantined for a week at the SIM campus before being released.

Earlier, David Writebol said he and his wife expected to enter a world of poverty, pain and suffering when they left for missionary work in Liberia. They accepted the risks, having faith God would ensure their safety.

So when a doctor told Writebol his wife was infected with the virus, he said he turned to God for strength.

The virus that has killed more than 1,500 people in West Africa is spread by direct contact with blood or bodily fluids, not through casual contact.
Advertisement

Another missionary, Dr. Kent Brantly, was released last month after spending three weeks in an isolation unit at the same hospital. He hasn’t spoken yet about his plans, but spent much of his first public appearance pleading for help for countries still struggling with the virus.

After Brantly, 33, and Nancy Writebol were infected, their charity organizations, Samaritan’s Purse and SIM, reached out to top infectious disease experts for help.

Meanwhile, SIM President Bruce Johnson said more details about the American doctor infected with Ebola would be released Wednesday. It is not yet known how the doctor contracted the virus.



Yet the only thing they DID say at the news conference about this, is the below (from my post # 17 above):

NOT SURE OF CONTACT POINT OR HOW DR. SACRA CONTRACTED EBOLA

STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT EBOLA SYMPTOMS WERE "MASKED" AND NOT PRESENTING WITH PATIENT WHO WAS ADMITTED AND CARED FOR

ARE COOPERATING WITH CDC

WOULD LIKE CONFIRMATION ON CONTACT POINT WTIH DR. SACRA TO PREVENT IT HAPPENING TO OTHERS IN THE FUTURE

DR. SACRA TOLD HIM IN AN EMAIL HE WAS FOLLOWING ALL PROTOCOLS AND PRECAUTIONS



Yes, I've a suspicious mind.


And after the 3-ring circus the media gave these two when they came into this country, the silence NOW--

is DEAFENING.

 

[nchomemaker]

Video at the link: http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/raw-nancy-writebol-missionary-who-survived-ebola/vCqhYM/

 

[Countrymouse]

Video at the link: http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/raw-nancy-writebol-missionary-who-survived-ebola/vCqhYM/

Thanks nchomemaker.

This only covers the portion of the presser where Nancy and her husband spoke---it leaves out entirely the "MEAT" part of the news conference, when all the reporters asked questions of the "Country Director of SIM for Liberia", which I covered in posts 14-26 above.

I wish I COULD find a video of THAT to post---if anyone CAN, please DO....

 

[nchomemaker]

You have done excellent work Countrymouse, we will keep looking for the full video. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.

Thanks nchomemaker.

This only covers the portion of the presser where Nancy and her husband spoke---it leaves out entirely the "MEAT" part of the news conference, when all the reporters asked questions of the "Country Director of SIM for Liberia", which I covered in posts 14-26 above.

I wish I COULD find a video of THAT to post---if anyone CAN, please DO....

 

[Countrymouse]

Ok, just CALLED WCNC in Charlotte.

They are NOT GOING TO BE PUTTING THE PRESS CONFERENCE IN TOTAL UP ON THEIR WEBSITE.

Only the "Nancy Writebol" portion.

The lady in the newsroom suggested I listen to NBC Nightly News tonight, as Gabe Guitterrez was there & will be doing a story on the press conference with "snippets" (her word) "FROM" the presser.

She also said "XIA" was there (so I guess I'll check that Atlanta station) but as far as she knew NO NEWS OUTLET WAS GOING TO POST THE FULL PRESS CONFERENCE.

I did find, on the SIM site, this "statement" by SIM's Bruce Johnson, which I did hear & report on:

Statement about Rick Sacra

Joining me now is Mr. Will Elphick, the SIM Liberia country director. Will has first-hand knowledge of our work in Liberia. Will is British. The U.S. and Britain are just two of the 50 plus countries where SIM workers are from, who are serving around the world.

As you learned yesterday, one of our American SIM missionary doctors in Liberia tested positive for Ebola.

That doctor is Dr. Rick Sacra. Dr. Sacra is 51 years old.

Rick is a veteran doctor with SIM. He and his wife, Debbie, joined SIM in the late 80’s. They have served in Liberia. Rick has been our Liberia country director, medical director of our SIM/ELWA Hospital and most recently is establishing a residency program for family medicine for Liberia at our SIM/ELWA Hospital.

This is one part of our effort to help rebuild the medical infrastructure of Liberia – to train Liberian medical professionals.

Rick and his family are currently living in the Boston area of the U.S., with Rick traveling back and forth into Liberia. He just had volunteered to return to Liberia a month ago, shortly after Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol became infected with Ebola.

He approached us after hearing of Dr. Brantly being unable to carry on his medical duties. Plus our other two doctors had been pulling very long hours, under extremely fatiguing conditions, and they needed a break.

Rick was not caring for patients in our ELWA 2 Ebola Care Center. He was serving patients in our Obstetrics Ward at our ELWA General Hospital. Rick was caring for pregnant women. Delivering babies by C-section and natural births.

Let me just say that in the midst of learning of this disheartening news about Dr. Sacra, I also learned some heartening news that on that same day, Monday, 12 Ebola patients walked out of our Ebola Care Center, having survived Ebola.

The Ebola Care Centers on our 136 acre SIM campus are the largest Ebola Care Centers in Liberia. A 50 bed unit is being run by our Liberian medical professionals and staff. A 200 bed unit is being run by MSF or better known in this country as Doctors Without Borders.

We have no confirmation at this time about the exact contact point that Dr. Sacra had with Ebola and contracted it. They check patients in pre-admittance for Ebola symptoms. A strong possibility is that the Ebola symptoms were masked and not presenting themselves with a patient who was admitted and cared for. We are fully cooperating with the CDC who has people on the ground in Liberia.

We would like confirmation of the contact point, which will help us prevent this and any other medical workers from hopefully having this happen in the future. Rick told me in an email that he was following all protocols and precautions.

While this news was disheartening for the sake of Rick, his wife and family, it does not dampen our resolve and commitment in SIM to serve the people of Liberia and attack this Ebola epidemic.

Our faith compels us. Our trust in God is not blind to the hardships which we may face. We are learning in a deep way that our faith in our God gets us through these difficult times.

Right now one of our other SIM doctors is on his way to Liberia to come along side our Liberian doctors and staff in the care of Rick and the continued running of our ELWA Hospital.

Rick is being cared for in our ELWA 2 Ebola Care Center. Many of those who are caring for Rick are those he has taught and mentored. They love and admire Dr. Sacra, so he is receiving their utmost attention and care.

Will and I would be glad to take your questions now.

http://simusa.org/content/latest-news/4574/press_conference_september_3_2014

I wish to goodness I had had some way of RECORDING that presser for you all.


Summerthyme, Doomer Doug, and Pixie over at PFI have all suggested that, as things get more and more out of control, the news of what is REALLY happening on the ground will grow harder and harder to get.

I concur with that.

 

[Hfcomms]

Summerthyme, Doomer Doug, and Pixie over at PFI have all suggested that, as things get more and more out of control, the news of what is REALLY happening on the ground will grow harder and harder to get.

I concur with that.

Agreed. But information lockdown is a lot harder in a technologically advanced society. There is still social media and the boots on the ground reporting what is going on in their neck of the woods. All we'll see from the CDC and Washington is a happy face and nothing is happening here. I hope that to be the case. The government lies so much that even if they should tell the truth today you really can't believe them. But if the threat is significant and growing here there will be less and less said about it in the MSM. Problem is that the word will get out and nobody will believe them anymore.

 

[psychgirl]

The information seems to be exploding this week, huh...I've heard more reports on our local radio and tv this week than in the last two weeks combined.

 

[Countrymouse]

Agreed. But information lockdown is a lot harder in a technologically advanced society. There is still social media and the boots on the ground reporting what is going on in their neck of the woods.

The information seems to be exploding this week, huh...I've heard more reports on our local radio and tv this week than in the last two weeks combined.

And thank God for that.

As I said, I wouldn't even have found out about the press conference if it hadn't been for https://twitter.com/search?q=#Ebola&f=realtime , so thanks again to whichever TB2K member here who put me onto that link---it's been great!

 

[ittybit]

Seems like the MSM wants to "control the story", and giving out information (or not) is a means of control. I have noticed this to an increasing degree over the past two decades: power attempting to control the public discussion via any and all means. IMO this is a part of the "management" culture of power. They only let out what they feel will contribute to their power or control. They promote what is in their control and demote what it out of their control. Over time, given a consistent application of this method, they end up with all the outlets prancing to the tune they play, like trained monkeys. And I do not mean any disrespect to monkeys.