Two Royal Free nurses travel to Democratic Republic of Congo to help tackle Ebola crisis
Jess Joyce and Kirsty Metz from the Royal Free will be heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help tackle the Ebola outbreak in Goma, in the east of the African country. Picture: Royal Free Hospital - Credit: Archant
Two Royal Free nurses have headed off to Africa to help the efforts tackling the Ebola crisis.
Jess Joyce, a ward manager, and Kirsty Metz, a staff nurse, will be heading to Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo for six weeks.
The spell will be part of the Royal Free's education and training partnership with Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity.
The deployment is in response to a few cases of Ebola in the city. MSF has set up a 72-bed Ebola treatment unit.
Both nurses are taking up unpaid leave to travel to the country. They have previously done volunteer work in Calais.
You may also want to watch:
According to the World Health Organisation the Ebola epidemic in the DRC has killed more than 2,000 people since the outbreak was declared in August 2018.
Jess said: "I am approaching this with a respectable amount of nervousness but you also need to keep a level of calmness. We know that we have the privilege of working somewhere where the majority of patients get to go home and we know that where we are going that may not always be the case and we need to mentally prepare ourselves for that."
Most Read
- 1 Developer's plan for six houses in old pub car park in Highgate Hill
- 2 Nazanin may become 'bargaining chip' in Iran nuclear deal, warns husband
- 3 Woman dies after house fire in Muswell Hill
- 4 Camden's Levertons to arrange the funeral of Prince Philip on April 17
- 5 Helen McCrory: 'Mighty' Tufnell Park actress dies aged 52
- 6 Hampstead Ballet School star wins place at Bolshoi academy in Moscow
- 7 Tottenham boss Mourinho unsure on extent of Harry Kane's injury
- 8 Hampstead robberies: Inside the police chase which caught 8 violent criminals
- 9 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Wait for second verdict could last 'until Easter'
- 10 For Nazanin's sake, hostage-taking must be a nuclear deal issue
