A Nashville man who is part of the disaster response team in Liberia has experienced firsthand the hard work and challenges the Ebola outbreak presents. “We’re working our rear ends off over here trying to help the people of Liberia,” Greg Holyfield said. “I was in Nashville during the floods of 2010, and this reminds me a lot of there. Just people coming together.”
Holyfield’s family remains in Nashville while he and 25 disaster response experts from various U.S. agencies battle the Ebola outbreak in Liberia.
Holyfield, who spoke with Channel 4 News via Skype Thursday, said everyone is working 15-hour days, seven days a week. “Bringing in tents, bringing in plastic sheeting, bringing in body bags,” Holyfield said. “We have DOD (Department of Defense) colleagues who are on the ground here now who are working closely to establish these Ebola treatment units.”
In Liberia alone, the Center for Disease Control confirmed more than 3,000 cases of Ebola and nearly 1,600 deaths as the outbreak spreads across West Africa.
Holyfield said each day presents new challenges. “We are having to teach people, you can’t touch the body,” he said. “They might have passed away from something else. They may have passed away from malaria or old age. But now, you can’t touch the body because that is a way Ebola will spread.”
It has been tough to get doctors into the area, so isolation is key to staying healthy. “The only way one can contract the Ebola virus is through the exchange of bodily fluids, so I haven’t shook anyone’s hands in seven weeks,” Holyfield said.
Holyfield shared a special message for his mother back home in Nashville. “Mom, I was to say I am sorry that I am not in touch like I usually am when I am in Washington,” he said. “Thanks for putting up with me, because she’s the best mom in the world.”