Hospital anaesthesiologist Dr Jenny Stedmon knows what it’s like working in a war zone.
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The 55-year-old, who has worked for Red Cross in different disaster zones, will sacrifice the safety and comforts of home to save lives in Sierra Leone, in the grips of a deadly Ebola epidemic.
Dr Stedmon, from Redland City, 25km east of Brisbane, will travel to the African nation to be part of a Red Cross team of 15 doctors and 50 nurses and will be one of three Australian medics on the month-long mission.
The rewards of being part of a team saving lives and getting a country back on track far outweigh the dangers of contracting the deadly virus for the Redland Hospital director of Anaesthetics.
According to the World Health Organisation, the Ebola outbreak is the worst since the virus first appeared in 1976, and is affecting Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
International Red Cross, which has 1000 volunteers on the ground in Africa, has been one of the lead agencies trying to prevent Ebola spreading.
The latest epidemic started in Guinea in March and since then more than 1000 people have died in West Africa and 1848 people have been infected.
However, Dr Stedmon said the mortality rate for those with the virus had declined from 90 per cent to 70 per cent as people were educated about the symptoms.
“Of course, you always (have concerns), but I’ve been in war zones before, so this is not so bad,” she said.
“I’m not that worried because I don’t think it’s that infectious.
“(Ebola is) quite nasty – the mortality rate is quite high – but you need to be intimately in contact with people and they’ll provide us with personal protection equipment that should sort that out.”
The Red Cross will provide protective clothing and equipment to Dr Stedmon and the other aid workers and they will be in quarantine for three weeks after their mission.
Redland Hospital director Dr Rosalind Crawford praised Dr Stedmon’s dedication and generosity, and said she was a “true humanitarian”.
“We’re proud to be able to support Dr Stedmon … who is willing to take on a significant personal risk to assist in the containment of the virus in the Third World,” Dr Crawford said.
“The team at Redland Hospital looks forward to welcoming her back safe and sound in a few weeks’ time.”
Dr Stedmon will return to Redland Hospital, ,east of Brisbane where she was worked for a year, after seven weeks.
