Up until December, 2014 the Lakka Centre was working as an ETU. As Luca Rolla, EMERGENCY coordinator in Sierra Leone, said in September 2014: «We decided to open this Centre because the epidemic isn't showing any signs of letting up: the positive cases can only increase and more healthcare personnel, isolation wards and beds will be needed to treat them».

The Centre was set up by EMERGENCY in a structure made available by the local health ministry. To safeguard both patients and staff, all personnel members have followed a specific training course involving protection protocols, the use of personal protective equipment, and the correct movement in the set paths within the Centre to prevent the spreading of the virus and subsequent contamination.