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August 29, 2014 -- The Ebola crisis worsens. Hopes for at least one vaccine (from a San Diego company) are dwindling. The number of reported cases exceeds 3,500. More than 1,900 have died in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Senegal reported its first confirmed case today.

"The current outbreak is in both the anglophone and francophone countries, with associated transmission risk implications," writes epidemiologist Pat Olson MD. "This is the only disease I'm aware of historically where the caregivers are specifically identified as those at highest risk." HuffPo: "Deaths Of Ebola Researchers Underscore Urgency Of Their Mission".

One of the heroes is RN Anja Wolz, author of Face to Face with Ebola -- An Emergency Care Center in Sierra Leone in NEJM. She volunteers as a nurse and emergency coordinator for the M�decins sans Fronti�res (MSF -- Doctors Without Borders). She writes,

Everyone working in the isolation area must follow the protocols and procedures to the letter... one mistake could be deadly.

She continues,

The new patients sometimes arrive eight to an ambulance... We've given the ambulance drivers basic PPE (personal protective equipment) to distribute to patients, but they're afraid to get close enough to hand it out... The global health community has taken a long time to react... We need to be one step ahead of this outbreak, but right now we are five steps behind.

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