HOSPITAL workers who risked their lives by volunteering in Africa to fight ebola are now back at work.

The staff from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust spoke about their efforts as the international drive to contain the deadly virus continues.

It comes as Public Health England announced another UK healthworker was being flown home as a precaution after potentially being exposed to the disease.

Some of the issues faced by the colleagues from Sussex included the challenge of taking 20 minutes to put on extensive specialist protective equipment.

This made it extremely difficult to put in lines and cannulas as they had to wear three pairs of gloves.

At the end of each shift staff went through a decontamination process and were sprayed down with a chlorine solution.

Trust biomedical scientist Thomas Harman was at a treatment centre in Port Loko, Sierra Leone, and his sleeping quarters were in a tent.

He suffered a health scare while out there but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Mr Harman said: “What was really different from my usual work was that every sample was critical.

“At Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals we carry out many tests and often they are to rule out a possible diagnosis.

“In Sierra Leone we were focused on testing for malaria and for ebola and the level of positive samples was really shocking.

“Some days we tested as many as 80 patient samples and others as few as 20. “It was very challenging to stand around in the protective equipment in that heat, especially for long periods of time.

“Everything we did with a sample needed careful attention. For example working in a glovebox and making sure the sample was always held over a bleach soaked cloth in case anything dropped.

“That affects the pace of work but obviously safety was our first priority.

“We had to monitor our temperatures twice a day. Also when entering buildings and crossing vehicle checkpoints there were additional temperature checks, as well as hand washing and bleach buckets for our feet.

“I was unfortunate enough to get a fever during my stay and had to be taken into isolation.

“We suspected it was tonsillitis and I didn't want to worry my parents unnecessarily, so I waited until I was sure and feeling better before letting them know.”

Mr Harman said it took a bit of time to adjust when he came back to the UK.

He said: “It took a while to adjust to the cold, the normality of hugging and handshakes and the privacy and shelter of sleeping in an actual building again.”

‘An amazing opportunity’

BIOMEDICAL scientist Emily Clement went to Kerry Town in Sierra Leone and worked with Save the Children.

She said: “We went to Porton Down for training. They had created a replica lab the same size and layout as the ones we would work in and they turned up the heat so we felt the reality of working in protective equipment at Sierra Leone temperatures.

“In the trust labs we have standardised processes. In Sierra Leone the set up was very new so many processes did not exist.

“One day a chlorine tank exploded near by – we could see the smoke and people running away so we evacuated the lab but we didn’t have a clear drill or assembly point.

“It is rare for scientists to be called on like this and it was an amazing opportunity. I missed Christmas with my husband but he agreed it was the right thing to do.”

Other trust staff who travelled to Africa towards the end of last year included Jim Wood, a nurse at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.