Treating Those Treating Ebola in Liberia HARBEL, Liberia - As the number of people sickened with Ebola soared this summer, American and Liberian officials faced a new challenge: How could they encourage international medical workers, understandably frightened about the risks, to come help fight the disease? The officials knew they would have to provide some assurances to the workers that they would be cared for if they fell ill. Their answer, a dedicated Ebola field hospital for health workers, is scheduled to open soon outside Monrovia, the capital. The facility was originally a modular trauma hospital installed by the United States military over more than a month at a cost of $10.4 million. It has been modified to house up to 25 infectious patients near the international airport here, about 35 miles east of Monrovia. It will be staffed by 69 members of the United States Public Health Service, who will treat health care workers from abroad as well as from Liberia. More than 150 Liberian medical workers have died from Ebola. "All of us here are trying to convey to the world that you can come here as a health care worker and provide care that's greatly needed, and if something were to happen to you, we'll give you the best care," said Cmdr. Jamal K. Gwathney, a family-medicine doctor and the team's chief of operations. Patients will have to be vetted by the State Department and Liberian health officials before they are admitted to the hospital. It has air-conditioned wards and promises aggressive monitoring and management of electrolytes and blood pressure, though none of its physicians are critical-care specialists. For now, the unit will not use experimental drugs, although discussions are underway about using the site for research. Throughout West Africa, Ebola patients typically endure sweltering heat and receive only food, drinks and some medications for comfort. Even health care centers that provide intravenous fluids to replace those lost through vomiting, diarrhea and sweating typically administer them without the benefit of diagnostics, aside from an initial Ebola test. Well over half of the patients die. Only foreigners are sometimes whisked away for sophisticated care. Capt. Paul Reed, the new center's chief medical officer, acknowledged that Liberians who are not health care providers might want to be admitted. "I know it's been discussed," he said, but added that he was comfortable with the plan to treat health workers rather than trying to provide "such a high level of care for the masses." He compared the approach to the triage doctors routinely perform during mass-casualty events. The higher level of risk undertaken by health workers to serve others, their key role during outbreaks, and the chance that incentives will encourage more of them to work are strong arguments for prioritizing their care over that of members of the general population, said Ruth Faden, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. However, that calculus is complicated, because others - burial and outreach team members; caretakers for children; political leaders - could be considered equally important. "There are many, many people who are trying to keep something like life going for so many tragically affected people," Ms. Faden said. You'd be hard pressed to argue why they might be treated differently. Capt. Calvin Edwards, the officer in charge of the unit, said that if capacity allowed, treatment might be expanded to others "supporting the Ebola operation." The Public Health Service team arrived on the steamy tarmac here early last week dressed in long-sleeved blue uniforms. A corporal read them the rules of their deployment, including bans on alcohol consumption, water sports and pet adoptions. "Don't let the local nationals touch your bags," she warned. Because none of the staff members had ever treated Ebola before, some spent their first few days in the country training with the people their unit is designed to serve, at Ebola units run by the aid groups Doctors Without Borders and International Medical Corps. "I was speaking to them, saying, "Hopefully, we'll never have to see you again," " said Sean Casey, the leader of the International Medical Corps team. He said that his group intended to evacuate international staff members from the country if they became ill, but that it might use the new unit if visa issues or other problems prevented or delayed evacuation. Tolbert Nyenswah, a health official who leads Liberia's incident management system for the Ebola response, said the new unit should "give hope to those who are coming across the world." While the center had been scheduled to begin accepting patients on Friday, its leaders said, some critical supplies, including personal protective equipment and hand-washing stations, had not arrived by Tuesday afternoon. The team had also not yet practiced spraying the concentrated chlorine solution they intend to use to disinfect surfaces and decontaminate protective gear in gusty, air-conditioned areas. "Once the chlorine supply is established, we'll have to game that," Captain Edwards said. Team members are considering using fans to blow fumes outside as workers are sprayed down, but some worry about spreading contaminated fluids. "We had vigorous debate about that," said Cmdr. Thomas Janisko, the preventive medicine chief. We're going to be a living lab for the next day and a half. The mission is something of a return to the Public Health Service's roots treating sick seamen, said Rear Adm. Scott F. Giberson, the acting deputy United States surgeon general, who is overseeing the unit here. The service's flag is "quarantine yellow," the color of the flags flown on ships with contagious sailors. The service has around 6,800 members, who respond to emergencies and work at agencies including the Federal Prisons Bureau, the Indian Health Service, immigration services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The members chosen for this deployment underwent training before leaving the United States and spent the past week drilling with mock patients. "This type of a situation, where it seems dire for everyone else, is where we want to step up," Admiral Giberson said.