The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing a training course for clinicians who are traveling to Africa to work in an Ebola Treatment Unit in response to the Ebola outbreak.
The three-day course, which will take place in the U.S., aims to ensure clinicians have sufficient knowledge of the disease and its transmission before working in a unit treating Ebola patients. It will involve the following:
- Lectures on Ebola transmission, epidemiology and prevention
- Hands-on exercises in personal protective equipment
- Small-group exercises on patient triage
CDC epidemiologists, advanced infection preventionists and other professionals will teach the course.
The CDC will not deploy graduates of the course to West Africa — participants need to be affiliated with another group that will deploy them to the outbreak-affected area.
The first course will start Oct. 6, and courses will be offered throughout the next three months.
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest in history. From March through Aug. 31, the virus has claimed more than 1,840 lives, according to the CDC.