Peace Corps
Jemison's work in the Peace Corps included supervising the pharmacy,
laboratory, medical staff as well as providing medical care, writing
self-care manuals, and developing and implementing guidelines for health
and safety issues.
Jemison also worked with the Center for Disease
Control (CDC) helping with research for various vaccines.
Once while serving as a doctor for the Peace Corps, a volunteer became seriously ill, and a doctor diagnosed malaria.
The volunteer's condition progressively worsened, and Jemison was sure it was meningitis
with life-threatening complications that could not be treated in Sierra
Leone.
Jemison called for an Air Force hospital plane based in Germany
for a military medical evacuation at a cost of $80,000.
The embassy questioned whether Jemison had the authority to give such
an order, but she told them she did not need anyone's permission for a
medical decision.
By the time the plane reached Germany with Jemison and
the volunteer on board, she had been up with the patient for 56 hours.
The patient survived.
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