Dear Santa Clara Community:
Our good friend, Ted Mikuls, (“Dr. B”) (Santa Clara Class of '90) is on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is on staff at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and will be soon making rounds treating patients as the “curve” hits Omaha. He and his colleagues at the hospital are in dire need of Personal Protective Equipment, and in particular, N95 (or similar) type masks. He has confirmed news reports of shortages of medical supplies. Astonishingly, medical personnel at his hospital are having to develop new and untested ways to sterilize equipment in the face of this crisis and based on the need to continue treating the community. Needless to say, Ted is helping others at great personal risk.
Santa Clara grad Todd Rahimi ('90) lives in Hong Kong where masks are more readily available. Todd has offered to procure and ship kN95 masks (a Chinese version that has similar characteristics to the preferred N95) to Ted for use by Ted and his colleagues at UNMC. In these difficult times of limited supply, an N95 mask costs approximately US$5, can only be secured in very large quantities (e.g., 50,000 units), and are subject to long production timelines. In contrast, while the kN95 masks do not provide the same level of protection as N95 masks, they are more readily available. The cost US$1.50 per mask and can be shipped immediately from China to Ted with a minimum order of 5,000 units. We attach to the email a comparison of the N95 and kN95 standard of masks.
Ted advised us directly that while N95 masks are preferred, anything we can send will help protect him and his co-workers and their patients. We will continue to try to source N95 masks, but we want to provide immediate assistance in this fight. Our initial goal is to raise a a minimum of US$7,500 urgently so that we can purchase and ship 5,000 masks to Ted in Omaha. Our “Go Fund Me” ask is US$10,000 to cover shipping and credit card fees.
I’m sure I don’t have to repeat that health care providers like Ted are at very high risk of contracting this disease. We want to keep Ted and his colleagues safe so he can continue to serve his community in Omaha.
Todd and I are writing to ask that you chip in what you can, as soon as you can, so that we can purchase these kN95 masks while they are available and ship them to Ted as soon as possible. Please forward this to anyone who knows Ted, is a proud Bronco, or to anyone else who might be interested in this cause.
Stay safe and Go Broncos.
Sean & Todd
P.S. In case you think that the idea that Dr. B is in fact an “MD” is “fake news” (very fair question) here is his bio: https://www.unmc.edu/intmed/divisions/rheum/faculty/mikuls.html
Our good friend, Ted Mikuls, (“Dr. B”) (Santa Clara Class of '90) is on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is on staff at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and will be soon making rounds treating patients as the “curve” hits Omaha. He and his colleagues at the hospital are in dire need of Personal Protective Equipment, and in particular, N95 (or similar) type masks. He has confirmed news reports of shortages of medical supplies. Astonishingly, medical personnel at his hospital are having to develop new and untested ways to sterilize equipment in the face of this crisis and based on the need to continue treating the community. Needless to say, Ted is helping others at great personal risk.
Santa Clara grad Todd Rahimi ('90) lives in Hong Kong where masks are more readily available. Todd has offered to procure and ship kN95 masks (a Chinese version that has similar characteristics to the preferred N95) to Ted for use by Ted and his colleagues at UNMC. In these difficult times of limited supply, an N95 mask costs approximately US$5, can only be secured in very large quantities (e.g., 50,000 units), and are subject to long production timelines. In contrast, while the kN95 masks do not provide the same level of protection as N95 masks, they are more readily available. The cost US$1.50 per mask and can be shipped immediately from China to Ted with a minimum order of 5,000 units. We attach to the email a comparison of the N95 and kN95 standard of masks.
Ted advised us directly that while N95 masks are preferred, anything we can send will help protect him and his co-workers and their patients. We will continue to try to source N95 masks, but we want to provide immediate assistance in this fight. Our initial goal is to raise a a minimum of US$7,500 urgently so that we can purchase and ship 5,000 masks to Ted in Omaha. Our “Go Fund Me” ask is US$10,000 to cover shipping and credit card fees.
I’m sure I don’t have to repeat that health care providers like Ted are at very high risk of contracting this disease. We want to keep Ted and his colleagues safe so he can continue to serve his community in Omaha.
Todd and I are writing to ask that you chip in what you can, as soon as you can, so that we can purchase these kN95 masks while they are available and ship them to Ted as soon as possible. Please forward this to anyone who knows Ted, is a proud Bronco, or to anyone else who might be interested in this cause.
Stay safe and Go Broncos.
Sean & Todd
P.S. In case you think that the idea that Dr. B is in fact an “MD” is “fake news” (very fair question) here is his bio: https://www.unmc.edu/intmed/divisions/rheum/faculty/mikuls.html
Organizer