The government is taking steps toward combating Ebola by building a 30-person rapid-response medical support team to aid health care workers should they become infected with the virus.

The team will include 20 critical-care nurses, five doctors with infectious disease training, and five trainers in infectious-disease protocols, USA Today reports.

Gen. Chuck Jacoby was appointed by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to train the team.

The initiative is “an added prudent measure to ensure our nation is ready to respond quickly, effectively and safely in the event of additional Ebola cases,” said the Department of Health and Human Services at the Pentagon.

The team will be training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas starting within the next week for up to seven days while the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases trains them in personal protective equipment and infection control.

The team will await deployment to those found with Ebola within the U.S. They will not be sent outside the country. This “prepare to deploy” status will last 30 days, according to the Pentagon statement.

“Identifying, training, and preparing forces in advance of potential requests ensures that we can respond quickly,” the statement said.

Hundreds of military personnel are in West Africa taking measures to control the deadly virus which has infected 9,000 and killed 5,000 in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization last week.

One person died of Ebola on Oct. 8 in the U.S.: Thomas Eric Duncan at a Dallas, TX hospital. Two nurses who treated Duncan have contracted the disease, one is being treated at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, GA and another in Bethesda, MD at the National Institutes of Health.