Facing a severe shortage of medical supplies and protective gear, health workers operating in the hot spots of the West African Ebola crisis are risking their own lives to help others.

That’s why Dr. Dan Kelly, co-founder of Wellbody Alliance in Sierra Leone, has returned to the frontlines of the Ebola crisis to help train health workers on how to protect themselves from infection.

Sadly, his return follows the death of his dear friend and colleague who was infected with Ebola. The heart-wrenching reason: “The protection needed was simply not available,” Dr. Kelly wrote in an op-ed. “Every health worker in the country must be supplied with protective gear.”

So far, nearly 170 health care workers have been infected, and more than 80 have died, according to the World Health Organization.

Direct Relief is working with local partners like Wellbody Alliance to protect those risking their lives on the frontlines by providing the urgently requested personal protective equipment – like gloves, gowns, masks, and boots – to help keep them safe from the highly contagious virus spread through contact with bodily fluids of those infected.

Read Dr. Kelly’s full op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle and follow Dr. Kelly’s Twitter account @DanKelly_MD for live updates from the field.