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Well Suited

Arming doctors to fight Ebola

As I learned recently, it’s one thing to find a new tool that will help the people fighting this deadly disease. Getting it to them is another story.

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Getting new tools into the hands of the people fighting Ebola is much harder than it needs to be. I have experience with one alarming example.

Health workers in protective suits get so hot that they have a hard time caring for their patients. (For example your goggles fog up and you sweat profusely.) I asked a team of experts who work on technology for keeping vaccines cold to refocus on keeping the medical workers cool.

"Suiting Up for Ebola"

Within days, the team had found an existing solution: a vest with pockets where you could insert cooling packs.

"Suiting Up for Ebola"

Doctors who had treated Ebola patients in West Africa helped test and improve these cooling vests. Here you see Dr. Colin Bucks of Stanford University testing a vest and suit at home while under quarantine after working in Liberia. He rode a stationary bike to simulate the heat of West Africa.

"Suiting Up for Ebola"

Unfortunately, there was no coordinated system for getting the vests to West Africa. The team had to create new distribution channels by working directly with treatment centers in the region. They eventually got the suits to over a thousand health workers.

"Suiting Up for Ebola"

Although this wasn’t a critical issue, it is just one example of the challenge of preparing for a highly infectious disease. We see similar breakdowns in detecting outbreaks early, training and deploying volunteers, coordinating with the military, and more. But I’m optimistic that if we start now and stay focused, we can get ready for the next epidemic.

"Suiting Up for Ebola"