Three members of Heart to Heart International’s Advance Team left from Kansas City International airport Sunday, September 21, 2014, and will be joined by a 4th member in New York before flying to Liberia by way of Morocco.
It’ll be a long journey to get to Liberia’s capital city of Monrovia as air carriers have been restricting or cancelling flights to the country due to the Ebola Outbreak. The team is also loaded down with supplies. They’re carrying six extra-large bags full of medicine and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the team’s use in the Ebola hot zone.
Watch local Kansas City news coverage of Advance Team departure
The team’s goal is to pave the way for HHI to deploy teams of volunteer doctors and nurses in the coming weeks and months into West Africa. Besides the dire need for medical and protective supplies to fight the virus and treat Ebola patients, there is a desperate need to have more medical providers, nurses and health workers on the ground to provide primary care and more.
Advance Team members:
Dr. Gary Morsch, Founder, HHI
Dan Neal, Director of Global Operations, HHI
Julie Hefner, International Liaison Officer, HHI
Sue Mangicaro, RN – Clinical Affairs Director, Welch Allyn
The HHI Advance Team will be in Liberia for a little more than a week working with partners on the ground like the International Medical Corps, the World Health Organization (WHO) and local government officials to coordinate a broader response, and to assess medical supply needs and determine ways to meet and expand the number of shipments.
See emergency Ebola relief supplies leave HHI’s Global Distribution Center
Because of the Ebola epidemic the limited healthcare system in the affected countries is collapsing creating a Crisis within the Crisis. This is where Heart to Heart International can do a lot of good, by drawing on the experience and bravery of our medical volunteers to help provide this care.