Updated 26 August 2014, 7:12 AEST
A health worker offers water to a woman with Ebola at Kenema Government Hospital. (Credit: Reuters)
The World Health Organisation had declared it an international public health emergency. This was a big and important story. But dispatching a crew from Australia was risky and problematic.
We couldn't be sure borders would be shut down en route, but even if they did get into one of the hotspots, the safety and security of the crew was paramount.
We undertake strict and sophisticated risk assessments before our assignments, but this was particularly challenging. It became clear that local knowledge and experience was needed. We needed someone on the ground, who knew the conditions, had been to the epicentre before, and would know in a detailed way how to conduct themselves to ensure no risk of infection.
It was a big ask but we found the right person.
Adam Bailes has been working in Sierra Leone for some time and had visited the key towns at the epicentre of the outbreak – Kailahun and Kenema.
He is a young video journalist originally from England. He also speaks the local lingo.
We had been in constant contact with key NGOs on the ground in Sierra Leone, and, with the expertise of the World Health Organisation, the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, had developed an assignment that would deliver this important story with minimal risk to our team.
Adam was comfortable with the plan and the precautions in place and he was also keen to participate in the effort to get this important story out to an international audience.
The journey begin in Freetown, as Adam set off in a Red Cross 4x4 with Patrick Massaquoi, the communications director of the agency in Sierra Leone. It was the wet season, so after many hours of rough slippery roads, Adam and his crew arrived at the journey's midway point, Kenema.
Kenema is the site of a terrible tragedy. Twenty nursing staff have died of Ebola in the local government hospital. Now the International Red Cross (IRC) is there building a new field hospital and training the local health workers in how to protect themselves from infection.
"I have been to Kenema a number of times over the past few months and seen many very hard-hit families in many districts as well as the chaos of the Kenema Government Hospital at the worst time," Adam said.
He said it was around July when he realised many of the staff he had been interviewing over the past months were now sick or had died, including Sheik Umar Khan, the Kenema hospital's head matron, and a lab technician called Hassan.
The race to the Ebola outbreak epicentre
As Adam arrived with our team, the head of the IRC response, Australian Amanda McClelland, told our crew they would need to leave immediately if they were to get through the roadblocks.The government had announced a media lockout and also a lockout for all non-essential personnel.
Adam and the team quickly ran to the car and continued their journey to the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak at Kailahun.
Compared to the last few months, this time, travelling to Kailahun did not feel very high risk. I felt very comfortable.Adam Bailes
Our crew travelled for many hours, again on wet bumpy roads. Twelve hours later, they reached Kailahun.
This is the site of the crisis coordination centre set up by Médecins Sans Frontières with help from the IRC and the World Health Organisation.
"Walking through the gates to the compound of MSF and Red Cross headquarters and seeing maybe 60 white 4x4's with MSF or Red Cross on the side, flags flying and big radio transmitters on front, I remember thinking 'this is an army'," Adam said.
"Compared to the rest of the country, Kailahun has the most specialised and prepared team I have seen. This is the kind of response that is needed all over the country.
"Compared to the last few months, this time, travelling to Kailahun did not feel very high risk. I felt very comfortable."
'Ebola may just keep slowly burning through the country'
Adam and the team arrived back safely in the capital Freetown several days later, but some of the fear of working in an Ebola-affected area remained.
"There is definitely a whole mental process you go through covering an outbreak like this," Adam said.
"You become hyper-aware, thinking about every surface you touch or a tiny bit of sweat dripping on your lip. You become paranoid every time you feel a bit tired, or have a small temperature change. Straight away I would start counting backwards how many days it had been, to see if you fall in the contagion time of three to 21 days.
"It feels now like perceptions of people in Sierra Leone are beginning to change which will make a massive difference. If people accept Ebola is real, is it a lot easier to treat.
"I fear though Ebola may just keep slowly burning through the country. Now rainy season is really kicking in, traveling is becoming even harder and resources in the fight are already low."v http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2014-08-26/ebola-outbreak-foreign-correspondent-reports-from-behind-the-roadblocks-on-sierra-leones-health-cris/1360786
