Ebola-suspect nurse relives horrors
A DAY after eight weeks working in an Ebola red zone in Sierra Leone, nurse Bronni McBain was on her way back home to Gore.
She said it was confronting to see so much devastation as a result of the Ebola outbreak – death was everywhere.
Once, while walking along the beach, she saw a dead body on the sand. ‘‘Entire families were wiped out by the disease.’’
It was heart-wrenching, she said. This was not the first time McBain had lent her skills to countries that needed it.
She has often volunteered overseas but what made this trip different was that a high fever suddenly triggered an Ebola response in the south.
She was whisked from her home to Christchurch where she stayed in isolation until she tested clear for the disease.
There was a lot the general public didn’t understand about Ebola, she said. It was hard to contract. ‘‘Soap, sun and chlorine all killed the disease.’’
Staff working with Ebola patients went through rigorous hygiene and quarantine procedures. As well as wearing a full hazard suit, nurses and staff were required to wash their hands in 0.05 per cent chlorine solution hundreds of times a day.
The disease is spread through bodily fluids.
‘‘No-one with open wounds was allowed in quarantined areas. This meant anyone with cuts, pimples or bug bites were not allowed in the red zone.’’
A simple paper cut meant a member of staff couldn’t work for three days, she said.
Although shocked at being admitted to Christchurch Hospital she knew she didn’t have Ebola.
‘‘It was scary but I knew I couldn’t have had Ebola, I never had a breach,’’ she said.
People didn’t need to be scared of Ebola, they needed to be educated about it.
‘‘No-one wants Ebola in their country, some have said ‘just leave it over there it will sort itself out’ but people come in and out of Sierra Leone all the time, it could quite easily spread around the world if not acted on now.’’
Reflecting on her time in Sierra Leone, McBain said: ‘‘You just don’t realise how much you touch people till you can’t.’’
People contracted the disease while looking after their loved ones or preparing their burial. They just didn’t realise the risks.
‘‘We had one family of 21 admitted at one point, only two survived.’’
Sometimes all she could do was sit with patients. ‘‘They knew they were dying and you knew they were dying, they just needed someone to sit with them because you both knew they would never see her family again.’’
It was appalling how many people had died, she said.
The decision to volunteer was easy but wasn’t one she took lightly.
‘‘I couldn’t put my head in the sand, I knew someone had to help these people.’’