West Midlands paramedics head to west Africa to tackle Ebola crisis

Tom Waters, a flying paramedic with the Midlands Air Ambulance and Lichfield based paramedic Gerard Kelly are among 30 NHS workers who have gone to treat patients in Sierra Leone.

Around 1,000 NHS staff volunteered and have been through the selection and training programme in Yorkshire.

They will work in treatment centres being built by the UK military and run by charities.

Tom, aged 27 and based in Cosford, said: "I've done some volunteering in Cambodia in the past and I found it to be the most rewarding type of care. This opportunity has arisen where I really think I can make a difference.

"I've got enough support from my family and my girlfriend, even though I'll miss her birthday, and they've encouraged me to do this; I'd really like to make a difference and help people.

"We will get a lot of support from the military and NHS but one of the challenges will be the sheer volume of patients that we'll actively have to treat. This includes lots of children who are getting badly dehydrated and struggling with this.

"The other big challenges will be the temperature and climate; the workload will also be very intense and stressful and wearing the PPE all the time in a hot climate can be quite demanding."

Tom is currently a critical care paramedic who works on the Midlands Air Ambulance flying with doctors to trauma patients across the whole of the West Midlands.

He has been a paramedic for seven years after graduating from Coventry University. He has also been based in Telford, and Birmingham.

Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in West Africa this year, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The outbreak was declared a global health emergency.