Pentagon Says US Soldiers Will Staff Ebola Hospital in Liberia

By    |   Thursday, 16 October 2014 08:00 PM EDT ET

Sixty-five members of the U.S. military will staff a hospital in Liberia that will treat healthcare workers infected with Ebola, it was reported Thursday.

According to The Hill, Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams — the commander of Operation United Assistance Joint Force, the team on the ground in Liberia — said the soldiers will treat patients at a 25-bed hospital constructed by the U.S. military.

"They will actually be involved in the care and feeding of healthcare workers who have been infected with the Ebola virus," said Williams, who noted the 500 soldiers there are part of the U.S. Public Health Service, which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services.

"The U.S. Public Health Services are actually providing support to healthcare workers ... if they unfortunately are stricken with the disease."

Williams made the comments at a Pentagon briefing in Arlington, Virginia. Across the Potomac River in Washington, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters at a State Department briefing that American personnel on the ground in Liberia will not have any direct contact with Ebola patients there other than healthcare workers who contract the virus. Some of the Americans, however, will work in mobile testing laboratories  — which involves handling blood samples of Ebola patients.

"I want to emphasize again that no U.S. military personnel will be providing direct patient care to the local population," Kirby said.

Several lawmakers and other public officials are not happy the Obama administration sent American military personnel to Ebola-stricken Liberia. Williams said they are limiting their risk of exposure through certain protocols.

"As long as you exercise basic sanitation and cleanliness sort of protocols using the chlorine wash on your hands and your feet, get your temperature taken, limiting the exposure — no handshaking, those sorts of protocols — I think the risk is relatively low," Williams said.

Besides staffing the hospital and mobile testing facilities, the soldiers are also tasked with training local healthcare workers and helping with logistics on the ground.

Orthopedic surgeon and U.S. Navy veteran Lee Hieb, a Libertarian running for governor in Iowa, recently told Newsmax TV she did not agree with using military troops to help control the outbreak in Liberia.

"Really, how are we going to use these troops? Do we really need troops to hand out gloves and to be involved in actual patient care? I don't think so," Hieb said. "Are we going to use these troops to provide a 'cordon sanitaire,' where they're just going to keep people from moving from Point A to Point B, in which case, are we going to be in a position where our troops are going to have to fire on civilians?

"This is a horrible scenario. … I am opposed to using military troops. I just don't think that's their mission."

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Headline
Sixty-five members of the U.S. military will staff a hospital in Liberia that will treat healthcare workers infected with Ebola, it was reported Thursday.
pentagon, military, ebola, hospital, liberia
464
2014-00-16
Thursday, 16 October 2014 08:00 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

View on Newsmax