At the Army's Ebola training facility near York, NHS medics have been preparing to head out to fight the disease in Sierra Leone.

As part of the training, the fake blood and bodily fluids used contain a special dye that shows up under ultra-violet light. At the end of a training sequence, the medics stand under the UV light to see if any of the liquids have transferred to them, to learn how to minimise the spread of bodily fluids from patients which - in the real-life scenario of a treatment centre in Sierra Leone - could be carrying Ebola.

Doctors, nurses and medics from across the UK's National Health Service are joining Britain's fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone.

More than 30 NHS staff will make up the first group of volunteers to be deployed by the UK government.

The NHS volunteers have spent 9 days training at the Army Medical Services Training Centre, at Strensall near York in preparation. The facility is a replica of a Sierra Leone Ebola treatment centre.

The group - which includes GPs, nurses, clinicians, psychiatrists and consultants in emergency medicine - will work on testing, diagnosing and treating people who have contracted the deadly virus.

They will work in British-built treatment centres across the country, which when full, will triple Sierra Leone’s bed capacity.

Find out more about the UK's fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone at: www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/ebola-virus-governme...

Picture: Simon Davis/DFID

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