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Firestone Plantation Beats Back Ebola

Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 5 months ago to News
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When it comes to Ebola, the rubber met the road at the Firestone rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia.

Firestone detected its first Ebola case on March 30, when an employee's wife arrived from northern Liberia. She'd been caring for a disease-stricken woman and was herself diagnosed with the disease. Since then Firestone has done a remarkable job of keeping the virus at bay. Its built its own treatment center and set up a comprehensive response that's managed to quickly stop transmission.

Currently the only Ebola cases on the sprawling, 185-square-mile plantation are in patients who come from neighboring towns.

When the Ebola case was diagnosed, "we went in to crisis mode," recalls Ed Garcia, the managing director of Firestone Liberia. He redirected his entire management structure toward Ebola.

Garcia's team first his team tried to find a hospital in the capital to care for the woman. "Unfortunately at that time there was no facility that could accommodate her," he says. "So we quickly realized that we had to handle the situation ourselves."

"None of us had any Ebola experience," he says. They scoured the Internet for information about how to treat Ebola. They cleared out a building on the hospital grounds and set up an isolation ward. They grabbed a bunch of hazmat suits for dealing with chemical spills at the rubber factory and gave them to the hospital staff. The suits worked just as well for Ebola cases.
SOURCE URL: http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/10/06/354054915/firestone-did-what-governments-have-not-stopped-ebola-in-its-tracks


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  • Posted by khalling 9 years, 5 months ago
    This is quite an inspiring story. Cudos to Firestone for their efforts. I love the part where they admit they knew very little and spent lots of time scouring the internet and using the hazmat suits. everyday heroes are my favorite ones
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 9 years, 5 months ago
    We should nationalize Firestone and keep them from making governments look bad.

    Perfect example not of altruism, but practical, trickle down benefits of an efficient capitalist company.
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    • Posted by $ root1657 9 years, 5 months ago
      Agree, good on em, not for altruism, but for healthy self interest. They are now in a good position to take care of the workers so production can continue. Can't make rubber if everyone is sick or worse.
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  • Posted by DrZarkov99 9 years, 5 months ago
    What is not mentioned in the article is that the plantation is fenced off, with restricted access. It's facilities would be quickly swamped if they had "open borders" like our country. Where there is well maintained security and an orderly regimen for processing, an epidemic can be treated and contained. In a society with unrestricted freedom of movement and little real security, a disease can have devastating effects.
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  • Posted by wiggys 9 years, 5 months ago
    isn't it amazing what private industry can do when government does not get involved. what firestone has done in africa could never happen in the usa.
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  • Posted by term2 9 years, 5 months ago
    Government is really incompetent at nearly everything. I cant think of a single thing that government has been entrusted with that is handled well. Its time to STOP blindly trusting in government and making them accountable and throwing them out if they dont perform.
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    • Posted by sfdi1947 9 years, 5 months ago
      Sensible, informed patriots have been saying that for a hundred and fifty years.
      I don't know if the problem is pure apathy, or just a struggle to keep one's head above the financial waters, but when presidents and congresses are elected by a slim plurality of the 43 percent of registered voters who vote, Madison's Republic is in serious, serious difficulty.
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  • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 5 months ago
    CG, this is fascinating and tragic; we have a clue
    about the virus and its future. this appears to be a
    worldwide situation. makes me love watching movies
    in my living room. even more. -- j

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