the view from the ebola frontline by dr benjamin black

EBOLA : THE VIEW FROM THE FRONTLINEBY DR BENJAMIN BLACK

BY DR BENJAMIN BLACKEBOLA : THE VIEW FROM THE FRONTLINE

Dr Benjamin Black, a London based obstectrics & gynaecology registrar, has an interest in humanitarian emergencies and their impact on the reproductive health of affected populations. In June he traveled to Sierra Leone for MSF and took up a residency at the maternity unit at Gondama Refferal Centre (GRC) in Bo.

On Dr Black’s first shift at the centre, which treats obstectric complications and emergencies, he came face to face with two suspected cases of the deadly Ebola virus sweeping across West Africa in epidemic proportions.

For ten weeks Dr Black worked in Sierra Leone, splitting his time between the GRC in Bo and the MSF Ebola Treatment Centre in Kailahun. He wrote fourteen diary articles detailing his experiences and took many personal photographs: http://blogs.msf.org/en/staff/authors/benjamin-black

The photographs on these pages depict Dr Black’s journey – a doctor’s eye view from the frontline of healthcare in Sierra Leone in the midst of the Ebola crisis gripping the region.

For further information about publishing this story please contact jon.levy@london.msf.orgTo browse and download video B-roll and photography from MSF projects around the globe please visit our extensive media library at http://media.msf.org

Visa Granted.

Leaving London.

Arriving in Freetown.

The journey to Bo.

MSF Compound Bo.

Around Bo and at the MSF Gondama Referral Centre (GRC).

Public information posters around Bo.

MSF - Gondama Referral Centre.

On the maternity ward at GRC in Bo.

Dr Benjamin Black puts on his PPE clothing for the first

time in preparation for making his first rounds at the MSF

Gondama Referral Centre in Bo, Sierra Leone.

On the road to Kailahun.

Boots and goggles dry in the sun after disinfection at the

Ebola treatment centre, Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Ebola treatment centre, Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Ebola treatment centre, Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Undressing proceedure at the Ebola treatment centre, Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

MSF staff wearing protective clothing on the high risk ward of the Ebola Treatment centre in Kailahun.

Discharge of a recovered patient from the MSF Ebola Treatment Centre in Kailahun.

Updating records at Kailahun Ebola treatment centre.

Dr Benjamin Black, wearing protective suit on his rounds in Kailahun.

Kailahun Ebola treatment centre, Sierra Leone.

Public Information posters around Bo.

Back at the Gondama Referral Centre in Bo Dr Black trains midwives in personal protective equipment (PPE).

A woman and her baby smile after recovering having survived a ruptured uterus.

A woman smiles after delivering her first live born child after four previous stillbirths.

Public announcements broadcast from a mobile PA system around Bo.

Mobile SMS health Ebola information broadcast.

World Food Program trucks carrying supplies to the quarantined Ebloa areas, run off the road in muddy conditions from Bo to Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

MSF Ebola treatment centre, Kailahun, Sierra Leone.

Dr Benjamin Black and a colleague at the Kailahun Ebola treatment centre.

This young boy survived Ebola, made a full recovery and was later discharged from Kailahun.

Leaving Kailahun.

Back in Freetown, waiting for a flight home.