Health officials in Washington bought household items and designed face masks using industrial tape and foam in an effort to buy time as the US runs dangerously low on medical supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Purchasing the materials from local craft stores and a Home Deport, infection control officials and quality experts from Providence St Joseph Health formed an assembly line on Tuesday and created the face-shields, according to Bloomberg News.
The volunteers reportedly included nearly 20 administrative staff from the network of 51 hospitals comprised by Providence St Joseph Health, as well as quality experts and infection control officials.
The initiative came at a time when local hospitals warned they were experiencing a critical shortage of supplies like face masks and ventilators as confirmed cases of Covid-19 surged across the country.
Becca Bartles, executive director of infection prevention for Providence St Joseph Health, told Bloomberg News: “We are very close to being out of face shields.”
She also told the news outlet the network of 51 hospitals was likely “a couple of days away” from running out of masks, which led the hospital staff to voluntarily design the new protective gear.
Other hospitals across the country are beginning to run low on supplies, as the federal government considers expanding the president’s ability to issue orders releasing medical supplies from the nation’s stockpile and significantly ramping up production on such materials to distribute them across communities facing major outbreaks of the deadly illness.
Doctors across the country have posted desperate pleas for medical supplies online and across social media in recent days, as health officials say a potential surge in coronavirus cases will leave hospitals inundated and without enough beds and crucial supplies.
Esther Choo, an emergency physician, created a viral trend on Twitter this week when she urged hospital staff to post pictures of the gear required to perform their jobs.
She wrote in a tweet: “Personal protective equipment (PPE) helps healthcare workers avoid spreading disease and stay healthy to take care of all of you.”
Other hospital workers said they had been reusing medical supplies for days on end.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide surpassed 7,000 on Wednesday, with the death toll reaching at least 117.
Health officials said the true number of cases was likely far higher, however, citing the initial complications in getting testing kits sent out across the country.
