LONDON, Nov. 12,2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A leading medical training organisation on the front line of the Ebola outbreak has asked the world's governments to take the brave step of enforcing quarantines in the fight against the virus - adding that the current "inexplicable delay" will result in an international epidemic.
EFP Tactical Medical Group, which employs 1,500 people worldwide is currently training medics in West Africato respond to the Ebola outbreak and related highly infectious emerging diseases. They say the controversy surrounding national quarantines is putting thousands more lives at risk as it could allow Ebola to gain a foothold on another continent while governments continue to debate the issue.
Chief executive Thomas Omogi says the response to Ebola, which has already claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people, has been "badly designed and poorly implemented" and adds current airport checks will fail to detect every case of the disease. Governments around the world should understand their reactions were "inadequate and ill-informed" and should now ignore public opinion and impose quarantines to prevent the killer disease from sweeping across the globe.
After first emerging in December 2013 in Southern Guinea, Africa, the disease has rapidly spread across the continent and there are now more than 10,000 recorded cases.Governments around the world are now radically increasing disaster training and response plans. In Kenya, the government will be working with a medical team from EFP including Dr Steven Hatfill, Thomas Omogi and Mike Taylor with Dr Stephen Juma Ndombi from the Institute of Tropical and Infectious diseases of the University of Nairobi (UNITID), Kenya -a member of the National Disaster Management Unit, an inter-agency organization established in Kenya.
With recorded cases already emerging in the US and in Europe, Mr Omogi says: "Despite the US Government spending £120bn over two decades in preparation for outbreaks of infectious disease and bioterrorism, the initial response to Ebola has been badly designed, and poorly and incorrectly implemented. In an effort to minimize public concern or even panic, leading authorities around the world have made over-reaching statements and assumptions that are not fully supported by research. This is an international crisis and every government should be prepared and equipped with the skills they need to respond."
Mr Omogi says the current policy of screening passengers at airports for high temperatures is ineffective. He adds: "Research shows Ebola patients don't always display fever symptoms and that means current efforts to halt the virus at the world's airports don't go far enough. There has been much debate about quarantines, but this delay is inexcusable. No quarantine is completely effective, but several centuries of experience proves national quarantines do make a big difference in halting the spread of diseases. Governments must not be afraid to take this bold step - ultimately it will save lives."
With a wealth of experience in training teams to respond to crises such as the current Ebola epidemic, Mr Omogi says governments must also work to better protect those tackling the epidemic on the ground and also create rapid response teams to drop into infected zones.
He states: "Workers from around the world have now been infected while trying to combat Ebola. More must be done to equip them with the skills and equipment they need to protect themselves and we must also create ways to respond more rapidly to fresh outbreaks.
"This disease presents a threat to the globe and we must do more to prepare for the potential spread of the disease. This is already the largest known epidemic in the virus' history and we are calling on every government to acquire the skills and the knowledge they need to fight back."
For more information about EFP Tactical Medical Group, visit http://efptacmed.com/
For more information or to arrange further interviews, please contact EFP Tactical Medical Group's Media Relations (UK): +44-203-282-7174or (USA): +1-866-319-9874 or email media.relations@efptacmed.com
Notes to Editors
EFP Consulting Group employs more than 1,500 people across the world, of which 33% are medical professionals. Many of the medical staff have specific qualifications in public health, tropical medicine, emergency medicine, advanced paramedic training, and infectious disease.
The company provides solutions to tackle health, travel, and security problems for a wide range of organisations around the world. Medical courses are taught by industry-leading practitioners who bring real-world experiences to the training room and have extensive practical industry experience.
In addition to delivering accredited programmes in Europe, the USA and West Africa, EFP Consulting Group also delivers HAAD-accredited programmes in the UAE.
For more information about the EFP Consulting Group, visit http://efptacmed.com/
