Healthcare workers are so desperate for face masks they're reusing old ones — here's how you can help get them critical supplies
REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Healthcare workers across the US are facing severe shortages of protective gear as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise.
The situation is so dire that workers have resorted to reusing face masks while the government has advised them to use bandanas or homemade masks in a pinch.
Without the supplies needed to safely treat patients, workers are more at risk of getting sick themselves, which could further burden an already strained US healthcare system.
State and local governments, hospitals, nonprofits, and individuals have organized various efforts to get critical medical supplies into the hands of healthcare workers who need them most.
The US has world's largest coronavirus outbreak with more than 636,000 confirmed cases and at least 28,000 deaths — numbers that are likely to keep rising as testing ramps up — and healthcare workers are facing a huge hurdle as they treat patients: severe shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and other critical medical supplies.
In New York City, which has become the epicenter of the US' outbreak with nearly 222,000 of the country's confirmed cases, doctors and nurses are reusing the few face masks they have left.
In recognition of the urgent need for medical supplies in New York and elsewhere, California Governor Gavin Newsom loaned 500 state-owned ventilators to the US national stockpile so they can be sent to hotspots that need supplies most urgently.
Healthcare workers are already more vulnerable to the disease because they're exposed to more viral particles. Without the necessary gear to safely treat patients, they're at an even greater risk of getting sick — and further straining a US healthcare system that experts say is not prepared to handle a widespread outbreak.
"If a lot of health care workers contract the virus and have to stay home, obviously at the same time, more patients are being admitted to hospitals. It's potentially a huge critical situation," Sal Rosselli, president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, told Business Insider.
While the federal government has roughly 12 million N95 respirators and 30 million surgical masks in its national emergency stockpile, that's less than 1% of the 3.5 billion masks the Department of Health and Human Services estimates will be needed over the next year.
That shortage has been exacerbated by people "panic-buying" masks for personal use, even though experts say that masks aren't effective at protecting the general public — but are essential for healthcare workers.
Facing this shortage, more than 10,000 hospital staff have petitioned the Trump administration and countless others have taken to social media using the hashtag #GetMePPE begging for more PPE (personal protective equipment), while countless hospitals, companies, and individuals have organized their own donation efforts.
From large manufacturing giants like Ford, 3M, and GE to tech billionaires to fashion designers to makeshift 3D printing operations, people and companies from every sector of society are stepping up to help meet the demand.
If you or your company has a stockpile of masks or other PPE — or money to donate — here are some of the organizations helping direct PPE and financial resources to healthcare workers who desperately need them to stay safe while treating patients.
For individuals/organizations with PPE or money to donate:
Run by a group of medical workers, #GetUsPPE: advocates for more PPE production by manufacturers; sends, receives, and coordinates donations; and helps the maker community validate designs that are easily shareable and printable. They've also launched an extensive map of donation locations across the US with information about which supplies each accepts and how to donate items.
Association of American Universities
AAU is an organization of 65 American research universities, and its Twitter account is keeping a running list of contact information for its member universities that are accepting donations.
Mask Match is a "peer-to-peer platform helping people with spare N95 masks send them directly to healthcare workers on the front lines who need them." According to the site, "these masks are not for purchase or for sale," and donors are expected to pay for shipping the masks once they're matched with healthcare workers.
PPE Link is run by a group of "scientists, engineers and medical professionals living in the United States" who are connecting labs and other organizations to hospitals who need PPE.
DonatePPE.org is a partnership between "Silicon Valley engineers, UCSF COVID Student Aid, and medical students across the US" aiming to ensure that healthcare professionals have access to PPE.
Providence Health & Services, a non-profit health care system that operates hospitals across multiple states, launched its 100 million mask challenge, which was so successful in identifying local suppliers that it halted plans to have volunteers sew homemade masks — and is instead collecting cash donations.
RETI Center, an economic development-focused nonprofit, has partnered with MaskForce NYC on a GoFundMe campaign. The groups then use their "supply chain and connections with larger partners to source FDA approved protective masks" and deliver them to hospitals and medical providers.
A coalition that includes the American Hospital Association, Kaiser Permanente, Kearney, Merit Solutions, Microsoft, and UPS, have launched an app called HealthEquip that "connects individuals and organizations who have PPE to donate with the hospitals who need it most."
State and local governments
Various state and local governments are accepting donations directly, including:
California (fill out the form on the state's PPE donation website)
Washington (send this form to PPEDonation@des.wa.gov)
For companies/suppliers/makers able to produce PPE:
California state PPE donation website
Business able to donate, sell, or manufacture supplies including ventilators, N95 respirators, surgical masks, coveralls, surgical gowns, face shields, goggles, gloves, hand sanitizers/wipes, test kits, and swabs can fill out the form on California's website to contribute to its efforts to combat COVID-19.
A national clearinghouse for medical supplies run by a group of volunteers, Project N95 says it is "working with governments to determine where demand is and where it is most urgent" and is aiming to "gather data as efficiently as possible to assist in distribution efforts." The project is currently prioritizing donations for N95 masks, surgical masks, isolation gowns, and ventilators.
Operation Masks is a "non-profit created by a group of entrepreneurs in healthcare, technology and logistics who want to contribute to the fight against COVID-19." They're working to identify new supply chains for PPE and take orders from healthcare institutions.
Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies
OSCMS is a Facebook group "formed to evaluate, design, validate, and source the fabrication of open source emergency medical supplies around the world, given a variety of local supply conditions." While not all hospitals can accept homemade PPE, OSCMS can point makers to medically reviewed designs and local groups already working on this approach.
If you know of other groups accepting PPE donations, please send any information to this reporter via email at tsonnemaker@businessinsider.com.
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