THURSDAY – FRIDAY: Disaster Response Specialists Participate in North Wilkesboro Training in Preparation for Ebola Deployment
BOONE, N.C., Jan. 9, 2018 –Dozens of medical personnel from across the country are converging in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, training to fight the deadly Ebola virus ravaging the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Forty medical and nonmedical staff are already in the DRC preparing to open a 20-bed Ebola treatment center. This week’s training will prepare staff to join colleagues already on the front lines.
During this multiday training, they will learn how to protect themselves against the highly contagious virus while providing expert patient care.
"Samaritan’s Purse has been combatting Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo since August when the outbreak was officially declared," said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse. "As the lethal virus continues to spread, we are ramping up our response—preparing to open an expandable treatment center and training healthcare workers. We are doing all we can to show God’s love to people who are suffering."
WHAT:
Ebola Preparedness Training—readying to treat patients in the DRC
WHEN:
Thursday, Jan. 10, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 11, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Samaritan’s Purse North Wilkesboro Facility
401 Elkin Highway
North Wilkesboro, NC 28659
ON-SITE MEDIA CONTACT:
Kaitlyn Lahm, 828.406.0365
MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
- Interview Megan Vitek, a nurse who treated Ebola in Liberia in 2014, leading this week’s training in North Carolina.
- Capture photos and b-roll in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, as staff practice doffing and donning personal protective equipment.
- Interview Ken Isaacs, vice president of programs and government relations for Samaritan’s Purse, who led the organization’s efforts to treat and prevent Ebola during the massive outbreak in Liberia in 2014. Isaacs also led the effort to evacuate Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol.
- Interview Brock Kreitzburg, Ebola response manager and director of the international disaster response unit for Samaritan’s Purse.
More than 350 people have already died, making this the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. Samaritan’s Purse is conducting public education campaigns focused on awareness and prevention and will soon be providing clinical care.
During the height of the Ebola outbreak in Liberia in 2014, Samaritan’s Purse operated an Ebola treatment center—giving hands-on patient care—and combatted infection rates by providing hygiene training and prevention education to affected communities. Through a massive public education campaign, which included thousands of church leaders, Samaritan’s Purse provided potentially life-saving information to more than 1.6 million people.
Based in Boone, North Carolina, Samaritan’s Purse responds to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations—especially in locations where few others are working. Led by President and CEO Franklin Graham, Samaritan’s Purse works in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, visit samaritanspurse.org.
