Dr. Kent Brantly, the U.S. medical missionary who survived Ebola, praised a new plan to use the U.S. military to fight the raging Ebola epidemic and called for an all-out effort. President Barack Obama laid out the plan Tuesday while visiting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
“Our military is the only global force with the capacity to immediately and effectively mobilize this kind of logistical support,” Brantly told a joint hearing of the Senate health and appropriations committees. “We cannot turn the tide of this disease without regular flights of personnel and large cargo loads of equipment and supplies,” added Brantly, who had a brief, private meeting with Obama in Washington before the hearing. "It is now imperative that these words are backed up by immediate action."
Brantly also called for unorthodox approached to fighting Ebola, including supplying individuals with personal protective equipment, disinfectant and hand sanitizers so they can more safely care for patients at home. "It is time to think outside the box," he said. "Admittedly home health care is less idea than treatment in an isolation unit," he said. But people are being turned away from overcrowded clinics now. "And many people are choosing to suffer and die at home," he added. The least we can do, Brantly said, is give people the tools they need to protect themselves.
IN-DEPTH
- Ebola Surge: Obama to Send Troops to West Africa
- Ebola Death Toll Rises to 2,500
- Brantly Describes Near-Death Ordeal
-Maggie Fox