Ebola crisis provides glimpse into Samaritan’s Purse, SIM

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Dent Thompson had never heard of Samaritan’s Purse when the Christian relief group called last month and asked for his help.

Samaritan’s Purse and another global ministry group, SIM, were scrambling to transport two ­Ebola-stricken U.S. missionaries from Liberia to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta for treatment. They had learned from government officials that Thompson’s company, Georgia-basedPhoenix Air Group, had a specially designed Gulfstream III with a one-of-a-kind isolation unit developed precisely for emergency medical evacuations. They wanted to send the plane to West Africa right away.

“They were beyond distraught that two of their people were stuck in Africa with no apparent way to get them out of there,” Thompson recalled. “Samaritan’s Purse indicated to us that they would hire anybody with the ability to pull them out. . . . We gave them a price, and they agreed to the price.”

Source: Washington Post (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care
Tags
infectious diseases, philanthropy, public health, transportation