President Park Geun-hye, during the ASEM meeting in Milan on Thursday, announced that Korea would send medical personnel to the West African countries hit by Ebola.

The announcement followed on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s phone call to Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Monday, during which Kerry is reported to have asked for additional contributions from Korea toward the global fight against Ebola. The call was part of a round of calls Kerry made worldwide to appeal for support. Korea has so far pledged $5.6 million toward the anti-Ebola fight.

Park’s promise to send medical personnel appears to be Seoul’s answer to Kerry’s call. The dispatch would mark the first time for Korea to send medical personnel to fight an epidemic abroad.

The government’s decision to join the global community in the fight against the Ebola epidemic which has claimed more than 4,500 lives since sweeping through West Africa in the beginning of the year, and which is expected to take several more months to contain, should be lauded.

The medical personnel to be dispatched will be drawn from volunteers, according to the authorities. The team, expected to be made up of 10 doctors, nurses and diagnostic specialists, will most likely work with medical teams from the West who are already working in the affected countries.

In elaborating on Park’s announcement in Milan, health authorities in Seoul said that the dispatch of medical personnel to countries ravaged by Ebola will not only contribute to the international effort to contain Ebola but will also be a valuable opportunity to experience and learn firsthand how to respond to a deadly epidemic.

However, the dispatch entails many risks for the medical personnel, which should be addressed before they ever set foot in the Ebola-hit countries. The Ebola virus poses great risks to healthcare workers who come in close contact with the highly contagious bodily fluids of Ebola patients. As of Friday, 239 health workers had died from Ebola, according to the World Health Organization.

The team should be thoroughly trained to work safely and effectively in the field and must be equipped with the proper protective gear. Korean medical personnel have not had any experience in dealing the Ebola virus and should be meticulously prepared. As the infections of nurses who took care of Ebola patients in the U.S. and Spain show, proper protective gear and the correct use thereof are crucial in minimizing the risks to health workers. The government should not treat the dispatch as an opportunity to get field experience. There is too much risk involved to regard it as a learning experience.

The authorities must also institute contingency plans for dealing with dispatched Korean personnel becoming infected. How infected personnel would be repatriated and treated in Korea should also be clearly planned in advance. There should be a frank assessment of whether Korean medical facilities are capable of treating Ebola patients without posing a danger to the healthcare professionals and the community, and the necessary preparations should be made.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is scheduled to meet with the relevant ministries, including the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, on Monday to discuss the details of the unprecedented dispatch. The authorities should leave no stone unturned in preparing the personnel to work safely and efficiently while, at the same time, getting ready for all eventualities, including the possibility of repatriation and treatment of infected personnel.