AS HOSPITALS PREPARE to deal with a potential wave of coronavirus patients, hospital staff are already running short of the equipment they need to protect themselves from the contagious disease.
“We will run out in the very near future of protective equipment, and it’s vital,” said Steve Walsh, president of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association. “We don’t want to stop seeing patients because we can’t protect our workforce.”
As medical professionals around Massachusetts – and the world – are attempting to deal with the fast-growing COVID-19 pandemic, one major problem already beginning to emerge is the run on personal protective equipment. Doctors and nurses need things like masks, gowns and gloves in order to continue caring for patients without becoming ill themselves.
In a conference call with medical professionals organized by US Sen. Ed Markey, Dr. Paul Biddinger, who directs the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Disaster Medicine, said as early as January, hospitals started seeing a severe shortage of N95 respirator masks, which protect against airborne particles. Since then, the shortage has expanded to gowns, gloves, and eye protection.
Biddinger said many hospitals in the Partners Healthcare system have gone weeks without a delivery of N95 masks. “MGH and Partners are trying to source material from anywhere they can, but almost never are we able to get the quantities we would like,” he said.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Massachusetts did receive a shipment of equipment Thursday evening from a national stockpile, including gowns, masks, eye protection, and gloves. “We quickly deployed some of that material to Berkshire late last evening and we are continuing to fulfill orders today,” Sudders said Friday.
Medical professionals say no one was prepared for the speed at which the pandemic has exploded, and manufacturers of the equipment cannot keep up.
“We have not invested in manufacturing in surge capacity for the equipment vital for the protection of the healthcare workforce in peace time,” Biddinger said.
Biddinger compared the current situation to wartime footing. “We would never expect the military to go into battle with just enough gear for training,” he said.
Donna Kelly-Williams, president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said the difficulty starts as soon as a patient arrives at the triage area of a hospital, when nurses and doctors need personal protective equipment just to evaluate a patient and decide where to send them.
Dr Shira Doron, an infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center, noted that the long turnaround time to get test results when someone is tested for COVID-19 – which can take up to four days – means medical providers must use protective gear when treating these patients while awaiting the results.
Hospitals are already taking steps to preserve equipment, such as delaying elective procedures. Biddinger said professionals are looking at guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control to find ways to extend the use of supplies within safety guidelines.
Dr. Peter Slavin, CEO of Massachusetts General Hospital, said staff came up with the idea of placing iPads in contagious patients’ rooms, which patients can use to communicate with nurses or doctors, in order to minimize the number of times staff need to visit the patient in person.
