Two days ago we received an email from the CDC Chief - Tom Frieden stating that we have moved to EOC Level 1. This is the highest level of activation, reserved for the largest-scale responses, which often require substantial agency-wide effort.The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) moving to a Level 1 means that "all hands are on deck" for the Ebola response. Level 1 is the highest on a scale of 1-6 and it means that increased staff and resources will be devoted to the outbreak. It enables CDC to pull resources from across the organization to use in the response efforts. Since I cannot post the email here, I will post a link to the accompanying news article, which you can read here.
In addition to the announcement about Level 1, Dr. Frieden's email also included a call for volunteers to help the CDC response in the region, particularly French speakers. I don't know how I feel about volunteering at the moment...it is something I have to talk to Michael about. On one hand, having worked and lived there, I know Liberia and its health system like the back of my hand; on the other hand I am not going to put my family at risk and add to their worry. Something to think about...
Regardless of volunteering, I will monitor the situation closely from my post in Dar es Salaam.
