Dr. Alieu Kargbo
By: Kieran McConville, Magburaka, Tonkolili, Sierra Leone, Nov. 5th, 2014
Kenema is the third largest city in Sierra Leone. Located about 185 miles southeast of the capitol Freetown, it is the biggest city in the east where the Ebola outbreak has occurred. Sadly, it is also home to a notorious incident that resulted in the death of a number of staff and patients of its health facility.
Dr. Mohamed Kargbo, a 33 year old doctor, has been stationed in Kenema for the past six months. “I was in Kenema at the start of the outbreak and have been working on Ebola ever since,” he says, emerging from the isolation unit at Magburaka Government Hospital.
Here in Magburaka, the isolation unit is holding sixteen patients, all awaiting the results of tests. Two confirmed cases were sent to the treatment center in Bo yesterday. “Until recently, we had to sent confirmed cases to Kailahun for treatment,” Dr. Kargbo says.
“It’s eight or nine hours over very bad roads. We lost three patients to Ebola while in transit.”
Dr. Kargbo has helped train the twenty-five people who staff the isolation unit at Magburaka. “Initially the hospital staff were afraid to get involved,” he explains. “Even the lab technicians were reluctant to take blood. But that has changed now.” Treatment for Ebola-like symptoms includes providing anti-malarials, oral rehydration, and broad-spectrum antibiotics.
Five new patients were admitted in the afternoon and most of those being treated come from the same family. The ward is not designed for isolation, so patients are advised not to mingle and to avoid body contact. The team from the local Concern Worldwide office has been active in supporting the unit with protective equipment, supplies and food for patients. “We are very grateful for the help,” the doctor says.
Along the corridor at the maternity ward, ten nurses sit in front of a DVD player, watching a movie. They are in the final days of their three-week quarantine, which was imposed after a patient with Ebola gave birth in the hospital. In all, forty staff members were quarantined. The woman, her baby, and a cleaner at the hospital died and the maternity ward has been closed since.
When asked about the effect this work with Ebola patients has had on him personally, Dr. Kargbo says, “My wife is not quite happy —
But it is my profession as a doctor to save lives.
Previous to this, the most I knew about Ebola was what I read in my third year in college — now I feel like I know it quite well,” he smiles.
