ALERT (03/07/2024): Due to a lightning strike, WVPB TV will be off the air in the Bethany/Wheeling area until new parts arrive. Thank you for your patience.
Harpers Ferry is a historic West Virginia city and international tourist hub. But four years ago the national park and surrounding town were devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an open seminar at the Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, Ebola preparedness was the focus of discussion. It’s been in the headlines across the country for a while now, but should West Virginians really feel at risk of contracting the disease? Doctors in the state say West Virginians have little to fear.
To help the public understand what’s really going on with Ebola, a public seminar hosted by the University Healthcare Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers was held at the West Virginia University Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Martinsburg.
The first half of the seminar explained Ebola and the second, how prepared area hospitals are to handle it. Wayne Selzer is one of the 100 community members who attended the seminar.
“Level of preparedness can never be high enough, and the best level of preparedness is self-preparedness,” said Selzer, “So more seminars like this, along with public involvement as well will help calm who have fears against those with no training whatsoever.”
Dr. Matthew Simmons, the infectious disease specialist at Berkeley Medical Center, was one of the speakers. He says he felt like the seminar helped calm any fears the community might have, but they don’t need to feel like they have to be prepared.
“There’s very little that a person in the community has to do to protect themselves from Ebola at this point, because the risk of transmission is so low,” noted Simmons.
Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, the chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children’s National Medical Center says you only have to worry about the virus if you’re showing symptoms.
“It really is very, very important as to where you have been, because it’s really not a widespread epidemic. It’s not at all spreading in the United States,” said DeBiasi, “So unless you had those symptoms, and you were in contact, like you were a nurse or a doctor and took care of a patient who had Ebola, then we would not worry that you had Ebola virus.”
DeBiasi tried to help put it into perspective that more people die from influenza in the US than Ebola.
“I think it’s just human nature, if it’s unusual we’re a little more nervous about it, even if it’s not really a thing you should be worried about,” said DeBiasi.
The final message the doctors gave the audience was simply…to stay calm.
Winners of the 2023 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards were announced March 23 at the Awards Luncheon and Annual Membership Meeting at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. WVPB brought home five first place awards and seven second place awards in eight different categories.
A program at the Martinsburg VA Medical Center trains medical providers to better serve rural veterans, who often face a number of barriers to accessing health resources.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s News Department has secured 11 nominations in eight categories in the 2023 Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters annual awards competition. This competition includes the best radio and television stations in both West Virginia and Virginia.
WVU Medicine is accepting new applications for its diabetes self-management program based in Martinsburg at the Berkeley Medical Center. The program runs for six weeks in February and March.