Protect Medical Personnel

MASKS


  1. Shortage of Masks in the Healthcare System

a. Due to a surge in cases throughout the world and an increased number of patients in hospital systems seeking care, doctors find themselves in need of protective equipment, such as masks and gowns, in order to protest themselves from being exposed to COVID-19. These items, known as personal protective equipment (PPE), are in high demand. Unfortunately, there are not enough items being produced in order to meet this growing demand.


  1. What Are Medical Professionals Doing?

a. Masks are supposed to be single-use: see a patient, throw it away. Currently, many doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals are reusing the personal protective equipment patient after patient. Many medical professionals feel as if they need to conserve materials because of the shortage. This personal protective equipment is not meant to be reused, especially when a virus like COVID-19 is so contagious. Evidence has suggested that the coronavirus can last on certain surfaces for hours and days at a time. On a plastic surface, the coronavirus can last up to nine days; because some of the PPE is made of plastic, this puts medical professionals at a great risk.


  1. What Can You Do?

a. Some ways in which you can help medicals professionals lacking PPE is by making or donating masks to local hospitals. A number of organizations have begun collecting handmade masks to donate to doctors in need. One such organization is "100 Million Masks" , which describes ways to get involved and increase the PPE available to doctors, linked below. It cannot be stressed enough, but the best way that anybody can help is by following quarantine orders that have been established globally. In order to find more ways to help: you can watch the video linked below by the Center of Disease Control.

Making Masks

A number of new ways to make handmade masks to donate to hospitals and health care systems have been innovated in order to attempt to recreate one of the most protective masks against COVID-19, the N-95 mask. Aside from donating much-needed masks to hospitals, masks can also be used everyday: at home, going to the grocery store, going out for a walk in your neighborhood. Some examples of ways to make masks are shown below:

Self-Isolating

Adhering to quarantine orders could be the key to saving many of our medical professionals who are most exposed to the virus. By quarantining, we are limiting the amount of cases that go to the hospital. This limits doctor-patient interactions, and can lead to a decrease in the level of exposure to COVID-19 to the doctors.

Not only does it decrease the amount of people who go to the hospital, but it keeps you safe. Quarantine orders limit the number of people who have been exposed to this contagious virus. Although it seems as if you're not doing anything by staying at home, you are doing the most to help prevent this deadly virus from spreading any further. It is understandable that you might get a little bored, but it is of utmost importance that you stay home. Please stay safe and keep everyone else safe by staying in quarantine!