tRUMP's SHITHOLE U.S.: Doctors and Nurses Plead for Masks on Social Media
As supplies have dwindled, doctors and nurses have improvised ways to make their stock last. Now they’re urging leaders to help.
nytimes.com
An intensive-care nurse in Illinois was told to make a single-use mask last for five days.
An emergency room doctor in California said her colleagues had started storing dirty masks in plastic containers to use again later with different patients.
A pediatrician in Washington State, trying to make her small stock last, has been spraying each mask with alcohol after use, until it breaks down.
“The situation is terrible, really terrible,” said Dr. Niran Al-Agba, 45, the pediatrician. “I don’t think we were prepared.”
Dr. Al-Agba was one of hundreds of health care workers this week who appealed to the public for help confronting the coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened thousands and killed more than 140 people in the United States.
As hospital supplies have dwindled, the vice president has called on construction companies to donate masks, the surgeon general has urged the public to stop buying them, and experts have warned that, the more doctors and nurses who get sick, the greater strain on a system already stretched thin.
Now, doctors, nurses and others are rallying on social media with the hashtag #GetMePPE, referring to personal protective equipment like masks, gowns and face shields, to put pressure on elected leaders to get them more gear to guard against infection. Some suggested that members of the public reach out to a nearby hospital if they had masks or other medical equipment to donate.
Esther Choo
?@choo_ek
· Mar 16, 2020
FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS
Share a pic of the PPE you're in that you need to stay safe
Tag your congresspeople and @VP
Use the hashtag #GetMePPE
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?@nursinterrupted
According to management I’m wearing the last n95s available in house for now. They are telling us that we put our name on it and place it in a bag for up to FIVE days. All our airborne rooms are FULL of r/o covid and this is just in the ICU #getmeppe
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12:59 AM - Mar 17, 2020
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Medical professionals need a large supply of the masks because they are in direct contact with infected patients and must change their masks repeatedly. The World Health Organization’s guidelines recommend that health workers use surgical masks to cover their mouths and noses, but some hospitals require masks known as N95s, which are thicker, fit more tightly around the mouth and nose, and block out much smaller particles than surgical masks do.
Charnai Prefontaine, an I.C.U. nurse in Illinois, said she’s asking the public to implore lawmakers and government officials to speed up the process of bringing resources to hospitals.
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“I would like to say there’s some major happy ending where a cowboy comes in with a ton of masks and we’re saved, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon,” said Ms. Prefontaine, 30, who regularly interacts with patients suffering from respiratory issues. “I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
The emergency room doctor based in Northern California, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid a conflict with her employer, said her hospital had already treated several Covid-19 patients, forcing several exposed employees to quarantine at home.
Dr. Vidya Ramanathan, 43, a pediatrician in Michigan, said the need was dire.
There aren’t enough sanitizer wipes to clean the workers’ face shields and her hospital is almost out of masks, she said.
The hospital where Dr. Ramanathan works has set up tents outside the building and established a triage system so that those who don’t require further care can be sent home for quarantine. The process protects patients and workers inside the hospital and conserves the diminishing stock of protective equipment, she said.
“Health care workers are working diligently to keep the pandemic at bay,” Dr. Ramanathan said. “We hope that everybody takes this as seriously as we are. The keys for the public are social distancing and staying at home.”
Niran Al-Agba MD@silverdalepeds
I found two boxes on my doorstep this morning. Thank you whoever you are. This independent doctor is forever grateful. #GetMePPE #ppeisnotoptional
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Dr. Al-Agba, who runs a private practice about 10 miles west of downtown Seattle, said she had been monitoring the virus’s spread in the community since a person died at a nursing care center in Kirkland, Wash., in February.
Days later, Dr. Al-Agba asked her medical distributor to order gowns and N95s — but they were already all sold out. Then, she said, she was told by a regional health care nonprofit that has been helping to distribute medical supplies that she could not get any protective equipment because she wasn’t on the front line.
She had to rely on community donations.
“Someone left two boxes of masks on my doorstep,” Dr. Al-Agba said. “I will make them last; I’ll spray each one with alcohol and keep using it until it breaks down. We’re really improvising here.”
For weeks now, she said, she’s been conducting “car visits” with her patients who have a cough or a fever. The patient is instructed to pull up to the side of the office while Dr. Al-Agba puts on goggles, a mask, gloves and a zippered, hazmat-like suit. Then she approaches the vehicle.
“After practicing for 20 years and being a third-generation doctor, I can tell you this is new territory,” Dr. Al-Agba said. “I don’t know if we’ve ever had to go to work and fear for our lives in the same way.”
Esther Choo
?@choo_ek
· Mar 16, 2020
FRONTLINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS
Share a pic of the PPE you're in that you need to stay safe
Tag your congresspeople and @VP
Use the hashtag #GetMePPE
Vidya Kumar Ramanathan, MD@RamanathanVidya
#GetMePPE @SenStabenow @RepDebDingell @SenGaryPeters
Reusing the same mask all day, so I had covid all over my neck (we clean the shield & reuse - it's the only one I get). We're running out of sanitizer wipes for our shields, so people saying we may need to go to soap/water.
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6:33 AM - Mar 17, 2020
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The hospital shortages stem mainly from the prolonged outbreak in China and a widespread buying of masks by anxious citizens in the United States and around the world. |
