Run this Town (Boston Marathon): Scouting laboratory locations with the U.S. Army

Operation United Assistance is the U.S. Army's effort to assist USAID in west Africa during the ebola outbreak. Part of the Army's assistance includes building laboratories in remote locations in Liberia to decrease the turnaround time for test results. As part of my job as the CDC laboratory coordinator I went out with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division to scout remote locations to place these laboratory facilities.

To help with transport of personnel and supplies for the 101st Airborne, the U.S. Marines and four Ospreys were deployed to Liberia. We would be going in the Ospreys for the three missions to scout locations in Sanniquellie, Zwedru, and Fish Town. Despite hating to fly I was looking forward to riding in an Osprey. If you are not familiar with the Ospreys, they are a tiltrotor aircraft that can take off like a helicopter, but once in the air the rotors can be rotated for high-speed, high-altitude flight.

Sanniquellie

I made the one hour journey to the airport with the Army guys for our first attempt to to go to Sanniquellie in Nimba County near the border with Guinea. We were in a holding position for a bit when we got to the airport because of potential weather issues. I had taken a dramamine when we got to the airport and after the guys pulled out some vomit bags for the trip I decided I should take another one just in case. It was very hot out and few times I felt a little faint when I was standing. Eventually our mission was cancelled and we headed back to Monrovia. When I got back to the hotel I was still feeling off so I tried to nap and that was the day that I ended up spiking a fever. As I mentioned previously, the fever was gone by the next morning but I still didn't feel well. I think I had some heat exhaustion and dehydrations because once I drank some gatorade and ate some ramen noodles I felt back to normal again.

We attempted the trip to Sanniquellie again two days later and everything went smoothly the second time around.

Riding in the Osprey was amazing experience, minus a few puking episodes (none by me, thank you dramamine). It is amazing how fast they can go and being able to land like a helicopter was key for several of the locations we went to.

Taking off from airport

View of the other osprey out the back of our plane

View of the other osprey out the side window

A bunch of locals came out to greet us

This vehicle isn't going anywhere anytime soon

Local United Nations officials helped us navigate the area, taking us to meet with government officials and then to scout potential buildings for the laboratory to be placed. We toured a building behind the hospital that was available and then the Army team assessed it for safety and engineering (environmental, electrical, structural) issues. It was interesting to see the process the team went through to assess the building and then discussions on use of the building with the local government and hospital officials. The process was quick and efficient, and most importantly, successful!

Token dog photo

My favorite photo from this trip

Zwedru

The next day we headed out to Zwedru in Grand Gedeh County near the border with Cote d'Ivoire. Zwedru was home to Samuel Doe. Doe was responsible for a coup in 1980 that led to his presidency. Doe was assassinated in 1989.

Parts of Zwedru are very nice because of Doe's residence there. He was building a large home at the edge of town at the time of his death. There are some great paved roads and sidewalks in the main part of town.

In Zwedru the process of locating a laboratory was similar to Sanniquellie. We had meetings with government and hospital officials with the assistance local United Nations workers. We looked at several locations before settling on a building behind the hospital.

While scouting locations we got to see some of the town.

We also got to tour the future ETU on the outskirts of Zwedru.

Fish Town

Our final laboratory scouting trip was two days later to Fish Town, in River Gee County. Fish Town is in the southwest corner of Liberia near Cote d'Ivoire. By car it could take as long as three days to get to Fish Town during the rainy season, but in the Osprey it only took 40 minutes or so.

Fish Town was very beautiful. The really tall trees in Fish Town reminded me of east Africa. I was expecting to see some primates swinging around the trees, but alas I didn't see any. Elephants and other wildlife such as pygmy hippopotamus can be seen in Sapo National Park.

We visited the local hospital to determine if there was a a building a lab could be placed in.

Water source for hospital

Papaya trees behind the hospital

When looking for housing options we got to hang out with some really adorable kids. They absolutely loved the Army guys in their uniforms. The little girl in purple was completely hamming it up and posing for us when we were taking pictures.

Somebody did not like their picture taken

Somebody else loved having their picture taken

We had some free time before the Osprey came and picked us up so we toured the community care center that had not yet opened.

We also got to visit the construction site of the ETU that was in the early stages of being built.

On the way back to Monrovia we headed to the town of Harper to pick some folks up and then followed the coastline back. There are some beautiful beaches in this part of Liberia.