Lizzie Badger has been part of a group of volunteers that are coordinating a nationwide effort to collect unused Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as masks, gloves, visors and medical gowns from non-healthcare settings in order to distribute the equipment to frontline NHS staff. Within the first seven days of the organisation forming, over 9000 pieces of equipment were redirected to NHS staff. Here she tells us more about it.
Med Supply Drive UK is an organisation run by 160 volunteers. The volunteers are NHS doctors, medical students and individuals from the art and film industry, as well as IT and consultancy. I am currently championing the beauty and wellness industry. We are volunteering our time as we are concerned for the safety of healthcare workers dealing with the COVID-19 crisis without adequate PPE.
The equipment is being sourced from industries and businesses who have equipment that they don’t currently need. This includes: research labs, engineering departments, construction companies, the beauty/wellness industry, art industry including TV and film production and electronics/machinery manufacturers. In the short amount of time they have been operational, Med Supply Drive UK have been inundated with requests from healthcare workers desperately seeking PPE. Currently we have more than 200 requests on our database, and only half the amount of donations pledged to cover these requests.
The PPE shortage is felt across the whole body of the NHS. We received this message from a Clinical Director of an Intensive Care Unit:
“We are trying to reuse our masks now. We have had to double bag up our used masks, in the hope that they can be used again when the virus is inactive. And we are looking at sterilising masks with UV-G in order to reuse them, because there just isn’t enough supply coming through for our needs.”
And from a GP:
“We are going to see COVID-19 patients in our COVID hubs in the community and Public Health England have told us they cannot provide PPE to the community healthcare teams. So we have had to find our own.”
… and sadly many, many more desperate pleas reach us increasingly every day.
Due to the large demand and supply discrepancy, we are putting out an urgent call for any business, institutions and industries who have available equipment to approach us via our website.
We are looking to urgently source: surgical masks, FFP2 (N95) masks, FFP3 masks, face shields/visors, goggles, non-latex gloves, medical/surgical gowns, medical scrubs, disposable overalls, antiseptic wipes/spray, hand sanitisers, Tyvek/hazmat/bodysuits and specialized PAPR respirator hood gears.We are also requesting for A4 acetate sheets, which can be used to construct face-shields. Working with the National 3D Printing Society, Med Supply Drive UK have managed to manufacture and send out 300 face shields to date.
“Every frontline NHS staff has a basic right to have adequate protection in their workplace during this COVID-19 crisis. With all those unused and redundant PPE lying around in the community, what better place for them to be now than in the hands of our frontline staff in desperate need for it?”
To help, go to: Med Supply Drive UK’s website
And via the Med Supply Drive UK’s social media channels:
Facebook here
Twitter here
Instagram here
LinkedIn here