Jersey scientist joins Army's fight against Ebola

Thursday 22 January 2015

A Jersey scientist is heading off to Africa with the British Army to help battle the Ebola crisis.

Victoria Atherton is leaving the path lab at the General Hospital for a few months to go on a life-saving mission in Sierra Leone.

46 year-old Victoria is a Lance-Corporal in the Army Reserve and will be having four weeks of rigorous Army training and assessments in the UK with her colleagues from the Royal Army Medical Corps to prepare her for her role analysing blood samples on “Operation Gritrock”.

Victoria said: “The work itself will be similar in some respects to what I’m used to in Jersey, although we will only be processing samples for a limited range of tests.

“The risk levels for scientists are much lower than for nurses and others at the front-line, and the safety precautions are very thorough. It will be good to have the preparatory work under our belts and to get out there and get started.”

It is the first time Victoria, the Commanding Officer for the Jersey Air Training Corps (ATC), has been called for active service since enrolling in the Army Reserve five years ago.

The General Hospital’s Deputy Director of Operations Chris Sanderson said: “The staff in the Pathology Lab perform a vital role at the Hospital, but they are primarily behind the scenes and often they are not recognised for the important contribution they make to the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

“Victoria will be using her skills in a different environment, but I’m confident she’ll adapt to her new surroundings and will help the British efforts to bring Ebola under control.”

16 reservists and around 100 Army regulars set off for Sierra Leone just before Christmas. Victoria and the rest of her unit will take over from them when they arrive in West Africa at the end of next month.