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Supply and Protect Healthcare Workers is supported by your kind contributions and a University of California, Irvine (UCI) Small Change, Better World grant which is funded by the UCI Blum Center for Poverty Alleviation. ~*~
The coronavirus crisis has exposed the glaring deficiencies in our healthcare system from weaknesses in our supply chain to the lack of protection and support that healthcare workers face. There is still a dire need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies for healthcare workers. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the national stockpile of N95 respirator masks and other critical PPE is almost depleted (1). Healthcare workers have been reusing single use only N95 masks with some reusing N95 masks up to five days at a time and even resorting to storing them in brown paper bags or Tupperware containers (2,3).
Nationwide, the vast majority of the healthcare facilities only have enough PPE and supplies for two weeks or less (4,5). Healthcare workers across the country are also bracing themselves for a second wave of the pandemic. The shortage of supplies and PPE may also be exacerbated by natural disasters such as fires which are quite common in California.
In looking at the number of coronavirus cases, Los Angeles certainly does not have the highest number of cases in the country but it does have the highest number of cases in the state of California and it is currently on a steeper trajectory than New York City after New York's lockdown took place (6). This means Los Angeles needs to be prepared. We do not know if the worst of the coronavirus has passed or if it is yet to come, but the best in each and every one of us will rise to meet it.
The focus will be on getting PPE and supplies to healthcare workers and hospitals in Los Angeles and other cities in California, including but not limited to smaller hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities which lack the purchasing power and resources which larger well-known hospitals can access (7). Depending on the number of donations, PPE and supplies may also be donated to other states.
Please note that this effort is entirely voluntary with 100% of the proceeds going toward the purchase of supplies and PPE to healthcare workers.
After thorough vetting, a supply chain has been secured. Supplies and PPE that are certified by the FDA and/or CE (the European equivalent of the FDA) will only be acquired at market price or lower to avoid price gouging purchases. KN95 masks will also be obtained since the FDA and CDC have included KN95 masks as suitable alternatives to N95 masks:
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1791500O/comparison-ffp2-kn95-n95-filtering-facepiece-respirator-classes-tb.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3DcQvv1_hr4MniEfx2YcyiIEe7px-S4yGCgDvZba2EPWXzSrcYyobubdQ
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respirators/testing/NonNIOSH.html
Right now the purchases will go to masks but other PPE and supplies like non-latex nitrile gloves, gowns, medical booties, bouffant caps and other supplies like hand sanitizers, thermometers and disinfectants will be considered for future purchases.
Donations are not currently tax deductible. Forming a nonprofit takes months which is time we don't have. Depending on the fundraising amount, there will be an exploration of a nonprofit partnership or the formation of a nonprofit.
Why is there still a PPE and supply shortage?
In the beginning of the pandemic, the increased need for N95 masks and other supplies overwhelmed the output of manufacturing facilities. The main company within the United States that makes N95 masks is 3M though it has international locations with additional plants and converting facilities. Outside of 3M, supplies are mainly ordered from China. Since China was dealing with the coronavirus crisis earlier this year, the decrease in manufacturing output resulted in fewer medical supplies being sent to other countries including the United States.
As the pandemic spread across the globe, people also started hoarding. Some people even hoarded PPE and other supplies like hand sanitizer and disinfectants before the coronavirus reached the United States. Hoarding and reselling medical supplies significantly worsened the shortage and created astronomical prices with markups as high as 700% (8, 9, 10).
Although 3M and other manufacturing plants have ramped up production around the globe, including manufacturing plants in China, the procurement of supplies is complex, competitive and fraught with ne'er-do-wells. There is fraud and abuse by brokers and suppliers (11). Competition among states and between countries coupled with price gouging further worsens the acquisition of supplies. Forbes detailed the movement of 280 million N95 masks within the U.S. to outside the country within a single day, which also means that even though there are millions of masks available in the country they are being bought and sold by others (12, 13).
Even after government entities vet and purchase products these products can be defective and end up being returned which creates longer delays for healthcare workers to receive the PPE and supplies they need (14). Relatively new quality control measures in China means that supplies can be detained up to several days before being cleared to leave. Once in the United States, supplies still have to bypass customs which creates additional delays in the arrival time of the supplies (15). Further complications arise due to medical supplies being robbed on highways en route to hospitals and other healthcare facilities (16).
It is important to note that 1.7-3.5 billion N95 masks in the U.S. alone are needed for the pandemic in a best case scenario (17, 18). Within the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom had announced an almost $1 billion deal to buy millions of masks (19). The masks, however, have not yet arrived due to reasons including, but not limited to, what was detailed above (20). Healthcare workers need to be equipped with masks and other critical supplies for the long term in order to fight the coronavirus.
What else can you do?
1) Please share this page via email and social media.
2) Keep calm and quarantine on. You can actually help fight the coronavirus pandemic by staying home and flattening the curve. This does not mean it is easy, but it is necessary.
3) When you go outside to get some fresh air, exercise or shop for groceries or other necessities, maintain a social and physical distance of at least 6 feet. Only buy what you need. (If you can, grocery shop for the elderly or the immunocompromised by dropping off groceries at their doorstep. Ensure that you maintain a social and physical distance of at least 6 feet when communicating with others.)
4) Donate any N95 masks, KN95 masks, nitrile gloves or other PPE you may have to healthcare workers and hospitals.
5) If you can, consider donating or helping others in the community like the homeless, elderly and others heavily impacted. You can volunteer to chat with isolated elderly members of the community: https://www.kpfk.org/blogs/community-resources/post/goldentalk-senior-chat-line/?fbclid=IwAR2sfNMYfReDhcs04kYOHPEs_xGr9HbAvU_3_EljgA2KWWdyu0DsQ60af3E
6) Buy local to help struggling small businesses. If you want food delivered, consider buying from your local restaurant. Even some local bookstores have delivery apps.
7) Support healthcare workers in other ways by providing them with food, walking their dog, etc. Another example of aid is a support group that set up a free and confidential resource for helping nurses who battle Covid-19: https://supportgroupsfornurses.org/
8) Spread kindness, not the coronavirus.
References:
1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-dc-protest-without-people-activists-demand-ppe-for-health-care-workers-on-front-line-of-coronavirus-pandemic/2020/04/17/e4a915b4-80d6-11ea-a3ee-13e1ae0a3571_story.html
2) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-14/coronavirus-ppe-shortage-persists-hospitals
3) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-states-masks.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
4) https://time.com/5823983/coronavirus-ppe-shortage/
5) https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/mask-respirators/survey-many-hospitals-have-only-10-days-worth-n95-masks-left
6) https://swell.life/article/rMYhMFRGa2Fa/when-will-california-peak
7) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-24/national-guard-sent-to-califoirnia-nursing-homes-as-officials-face-to-slow-deadly-outbreaks
8) https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/hand-sanitizer-online-sales-ebay-craigslist-price-surge/607750/
9) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html
10) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/brooklyn-coronavirus-price-gouging.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
11) https://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20200418/281483573518059
12) https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent-a-day-in-the-coronavirus-driven-feeding-frenzy-of-n95-mask-sellers-and-buyers-and-this-is-what-i-learned/?fbclid=IwAR3fwo7ZtjBIVsvRWmtACUpIynFamIwCavco5DHrk-gvLBp-d5mCjJ6c-jA#a212cdd56d44
13) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-states-masks.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
14) https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3079887/coronavirus-china-bans-two-medical-equipment-exporters
15) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/us-china-coronavirus-donations.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200424&instance_id=17910&nl=morning-briefing®i_id=120414819§ion=topNews&segment_id=25875&te=1&user_id=2b3587e704c933f102c43241038bb868
16) https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0ff8dd0f-0ac0-49e9-a66a-bf45fa95b529
17) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/business/coronavirus-china-masks.html?auth=login-google
18) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/going-war-butter-knife/608428/
19) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-states-masks.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
20) https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0ff8dd0f-0ac0-49e9-a66a-bf45fa95b529
The coronavirus crisis has exposed the glaring deficiencies in our healthcare system from weaknesses in our supply chain to the lack of protection and support that healthcare workers face. There is still a dire need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies for healthcare workers. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the national stockpile of N95 respirator masks and other critical PPE is almost depleted (1). Healthcare workers have been reusing single use only N95 masks with some reusing N95 masks up to five days at a time and even resorting to storing them in brown paper bags or Tupperware containers (2,3).
Nationwide, the vast majority of the healthcare facilities only have enough PPE and supplies for two weeks or less (4,5). Healthcare workers across the country are also bracing themselves for a second wave of the pandemic. The shortage of supplies and PPE may also be exacerbated by natural disasters such as fires which are quite common in California.
In looking at the number of coronavirus cases, Los Angeles certainly does not have the highest number of cases in the country but it does have the highest number of cases in the state of California and it is currently on a steeper trajectory than New York City after New York's lockdown took place (6). This means Los Angeles needs to be prepared. We do not know if the worst of the coronavirus has passed or if it is yet to come, but the best in each and every one of us will rise to meet it.
The focus will be on getting PPE and supplies to healthcare workers and hospitals in Los Angeles and other cities in California, including but not limited to smaller hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities which lack the purchasing power and resources which larger well-known hospitals can access (7). Depending on the number of donations, PPE and supplies may also be donated to other states.
Please note that this effort is entirely voluntary with 100% of the proceeds going toward the purchase of supplies and PPE to healthcare workers.
After thorough vetting, a supply chain has been secured. Supplies and PPE that are certified by the FDA and/or CE (the European equivalent of the FDA) will only be acquired at market price or lower to avoid price gouging purchases. KN95 masks will also be obtained since the FDA and CDC have included KN95 masks as suitable alternatives to N95 masks:
https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1791500O/comparison-ffp2-kn95-n95-filtering-facepiece-respirator-classes-tb.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3DcQvv1_hr4MniEfx2YcyiIEe7px-S4yGCgDvZba2EPWXzSrcYyobubdQ
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/respirators/testing/NonNIOSH.html
Right now the purchases will go to masks but other PPE and supplies like non-latex nitrile gloves, gowns, medical booties, bouffant caps and other supplies like hand sanitizers, thermometers and disinfectants will be considered for future purchases.
Donations are not currently tax deductible. Forming a nonprofit takes months which is time we don't have. Depending on the fundraising amount, there will be an exploration of a nonprofit partnership or the formation of a nonprofit.
Why is there still a PPE and supply shortage?
In the beginning of the pandemic, the increased need for N95 masks and other supplies overwhelmed the output of manufacturing facilities. The main company within the United States that makes N95 masks is 3M though it has international locations with additional plants and converting facilities. Outside of 3M, supplies are mainly ordered from China. Since China was dealing with the coronavirus crisis earlier this year, the decrease in manufacturing output resulted in fewer medical supplies being sent to other countries including the United States.
As the pandemic spread across the globe, people also started hoarding. Some people even hoarded PPE and other supplies like hand sanitizer and disinfectants before the coronavirus reached the United States. Hoarding and reselling medical supplies significantly worsened the shortage and created astronomical prices with markups as high as 700% (8, 9, 10).
Although 3M and other manufacturing plants have ramped up production around the globe, including manufacturing plants in China, the procurement of supplies is complex, competitive and fraught with ne'er-do-wells. There is fraud and abuse by brokers and suppliers (11). Competition among states and between countries coupled with price gouging further worsens the acquisition of supplies. Forbes detailed the movement of 280 million N95 masks within the U.S. to outside the country within a single day, which also means that even though there are millions of masks available in the country they are being bought and sold by others (12, 13).
Even after government entities vet and purchase products these products can be defective and end up being returned which creates longer delays for healthcare workers to receive the PPE and supplies they need (14). Relatively new quality control measures in China means that supplies can be detained up to several days before being cleared to leave. Once in the United States, supplies still have to bypass customs which creates additional delays in the arrival time of the supplies (15). Further complications arise due to medical supplies being robbed on highways en route to hospitals and other healthcare facilities (16).
It is important to note that 1.7-3.5 billion N95 masks in the U.S. alone are needed for the pandemic in a best case scenario (17, 18). Within the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom had announced an almost $1 billion deal to buy millions of masks (19). The masks, however, have not yet arrived due to reasons including, but not limited to, what was detailed above (20). Healthcare workers need to be equipped with masks and other critical supplies for the long term in order to fight the coronavirus.
What else can you do?
1) Please share this page via email and social media.
2) Keep calm and quarantine on. You can actually help fight the coronavirus pandemic by staying home and flattening the curve. This does not mean it is easy, but it is necessary.
3) When you go outside to get some fresh air, exercise or shop for groceries or other necessities, maintain a social and physical distance of at least 6 feet. Only buy what you need. (If you can, grocery shop for the elderly or the immunocompromised by dropping off groceries at their doorstep. Ensure that you maintain a social and physical distance of at least 6 feet when communicating with others.)
4) Donate any N95 masks, KN95 masks, nitrile gloves or other PPE you may have to healthcare workers and hospitals.
5) If you can, consider donating or helping others in the community like the homeless, elderly and others heavily impacted. You can volunteer to chat with isolated elderly members of the community: https://www.kpfk.org/blogs/community-resources/post/goldentalk-senior-chat-line/?fbclid=IwAR2sfNMYfReDhcs04kYOHPEs_xGr9HbAvU_3_EljgA2KWWdyu0DsQ60af3E
6) Buy local to help struggling small businesses. If you want food delivered, consider buying from your local restaurant. Even some local bookstores have delivery apps.
7) Support healthcare workers in other ways by providing them with food, walking their dog, etc. Another example of aid is a support group that set up a free and confidential resource for helping nurses who battle Covid-19: https://supportgroupsfornurses.org/
8) Spread kindness, not the coronavirus.
References:
1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-dc-protest-without-people-activists-demand-ppe-for-health-care-workers-on-front-line-of-coronavirus-pandemic/2020/04/17/e4a915b4-80d6-11ea-a3ee-13e1ae0a3571_story.html
2) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-14/coronavirus-ppe-shortage-persists-hospitals
3) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-states-masks.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
4) https://time.com/5823983/coronavirus-ppe-shortage/
5) https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/mask-respirators/survey-many-hospitals-have-only-10-days-worth-n95-masks-left
6) https://swell.life/article/rMYhMFRGa2Fa/when-will-california-peak
7) https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-24/national-guard-sent-to-califoirnia-nursing-homes-as-officials-face-to-slow-deadly-outbreaks
8) https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/hand-sanitizer-online-sales-ebay-craigslist-price-surge/607750/
9) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html
10) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/brooklyn-coronavirus-price-gouging.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage
11) https://www.pressreader.com/usa/los-angeles-times/20200418/281483573518059
12) https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent-a-day-in-the-coronavirus-driven-feeding-frenzy-of-n95-mask-sellers-and-buyers-and-this-is-what-i-learned/?fbclid=IwAR3fwo7ZtjBIVsvRWmtACUpIynFamIwCavco5DHrk-gvLBp-d5mCjJ6c-jA#a212cdd56d44
13) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-states-masks.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
14) https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3079887/coronavirus-china-bans-two-medical-equipment-exporters
15) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/us-china-coronavirus-donations.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_NN_p_20200424&instance_id=17910&nl=morning-briefing®i_id=120414819§ion=topNews&segment_id=25875&te=1&user_id=2b3587e704c933f102c43241038bb868
16) https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0ff8dd0f-0ac0-49e9-a66a-bf45fa95b529
17) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/business/coronavirus-china-masks.html?auth=login-google
18) https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/going-war-butter-knife/608428/
19) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/us/coronavirus-states-masks.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
20) https://enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=0ff8dd0f-0ac0-49e9-a66a-bf45fa95b529