Townsville nurse receives humanitarian award for Ebola work

A Townsville nurse has been awarded the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal by Australia’s Governor General for his work on the frontline of the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Sean O’Connor spent six weeks leading a team of nurses at an Ebola treatment centre at a decommissioned airport on the outskirts of Freetown in Sierra Leone at the height of 2014’s outbreak which claimed almost 4000 lives.

Mr O’Connor along with another Australian nurse oversaw a team of 40 Sierra Leone health professionals caring for patients in ‘the red zone’.

The red zone was broken into four bays: triage, suspected cases of Ebola, probable cases and confirmed cases with Mr O’Connor’s team the frontline nursing staff.

“It was physically demanding because we had to wear full hazmat suits in 30-plus degree temperatures after an hour session I’d have lost almost two kilograms of weight,” he said.

“In the six weeks I was there I didn’t touch another person, touching was outlawed because of the risk of transmission even with all of the precautions in place.

“I just had a feeling following the news of the outbreak that someone had to do something and when the opportunity came up, I applied.”

Mr O’Connor said arriving at the clinic was confronting but the reality of the crisis quickly became apparent and there was no choice but to get started.

He said while the overwhelming sadness of seeing people die everyday took a toll there were moments of hope.

“One of the best moments I had was caring for this young girl in her late teens for a week and I was certain that she was going to die,” he said.

“She was as sick as anyone I had seen and the way the disease was progressing was something that I had seen in people who had died.

“I don’t know how but she survived and watching her go back out into the world from our compound to her family and loved ones was a truly special moment.”

On Thursday 5 September, Mr O’Connor travelled to Government House in Canberra for a special presentation to receive the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal.

At the event, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia thanked the responders for their selfless service.

“The word itself (Ebola) it contains a lot of terror to some people, but your reaction was to say Ebola is there, people need our help and we can provide that help,” he said.

“On behalf of your fellow Australians, thank you for what you did.”

The West African Ebola crisis started in Guinea in late 2013 and was declared as a public health emergency by the World Health Organization in August 2014 as it had spread
rapidly to Sierra Leone and Liberia. By the time the emergency was declared over the following year, 28,616 cases had been reported with 11,310 deaths.

When the Ebola crisis emerged in late 2014 in Liberia, Aspen Medical worked with a US logistics company contracted by the US Government to provide clinical management
services to four Ebola Treatment Units in some of the remotest areas of the country. This project was ongoing until August 2015.

Mr O’Connor volunteered to work as part of the Aspen Medical team and was one of 66 first responders nationally to be bestowed the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal as
part of Australia’s health response.

Mr O’Connor works for the Townsville Public Health Unit and is part of the team overseeing the response to the syphilis outbreak in North Queensland.

Mr O’Connor also said he wanted to thank his wife Sara, who is also a public health nurse, for all her love and support during his time away responding to the outbreak.