#GetMePPE Trends as Healthcare Workers Turn to Social Media in Desperate Plea for Masks

Facing a dire shortage of protective masks, gowns and face shields as the coronavirus crisis intensifies, frontline healthcare workers are turning to social media in a desperate plea for supplies.

Please watch what Dr. Megan Ranney told @JohnKingCNN. "We need masks TODAY. We are pleading on social media, #GetMePPE, to keep me and my patients safe…" pic.twitter.com/E9HelU1k1H

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 19, 2020

On Thursday, President Donald Trump shrugged off responsibility for the shortages, saying it is up to individual states to make sure they are well stocked.

Meanwhile, the CDC has suggested that healthcare workers use bandanas and scarves, despite a lack of evidence that they provide protection against the coronavirus.

On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the Trump administration is no longer responding to his requests for supplies. “The federal government doesn’t even exist at this moment,” de Blasio said.

The New York Times reports: As hospital supplies have dwindled, the vice president has called on construction companies to donate masks, the surgeon general has urged the public to stop buying them, and experts have warned that, the more doctors and nurses who get sick, the greater strain on a system already stretched thin. Now, doctors, nurses and others are rallying on social media with the hashtag #GetMePPE, referring to personal protective equipment like masks, gowns and face shields, to put pressure on elected leaders to get them more gear to guard against infection. Some suggested that members of the public reach out to a nearby hospital if they had masks or other medical equipment to donate.

Both my wife and I are frontline ER physicians. With such a shortage of N95 masks, we’ve had to resort to sharing 1 mask between the 2 of us. We even had to write our names on our one precious mask because now even nurses and doctors are stealing masks from each other! #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/3Aovt01ULn

— David Lee (@Gummy_D) March 20, 2020

I’m lucky, @VP. I got the last pair of googles in the ER for today. It’s 9AM. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/b96Ye2Bdgv

— Chris Bennett, MD 🏳️‍🌈 (@cleebennett) March 19, 2020

The executives at my hospital are posting on LinkedIn, congratulating themselves over their PPE-crafting party. They hand-sewed 500 masks! What in the actual fuck? #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/mq7HDtiLXP

— Sara, RN CCRN (@queenofironyRN) March 18, 2020

This is what it looks like in the ICU. Rows of brown bags each labeled with the name of a nurse or doctor . We are told to keep and reuse these masks , which under normal conditions would be thrown out each time we leave the isolation room. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/8blP8LzAGv

— Victoria Williams (@V_Q_W) March 19, 2020

#GetMePPE This is my one N95 mask. I have been instructed to preserve it for up to 30 days by covering it with regular surgical masks which are also on critical shortage. The supply chain should not have crumbled. Our patients deserve better! We deserve better! pic.twitter.com/5FqFs5lytm

— Leah Tatebe (@LeahTatebe) March 18, 2020

When you get sick and have to come to the hospital, I assume you want a doctor and nurse to take care of you.

If we are forced to keep reusing masks or run out of them, there may not be enough of us left. #GetMePPE for #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/DWicKnu5J7

— Jahan Fahimi (@JahanFahimi) March 19, 2020

Anesthesiologists are literally putting plastic bags over their heads to intubation patients as they have no PPE. Shared with permission. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/J5jXpZCUc0

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) March 20, 2020

Making splash shields out of clear plastic dividers, foam, mounting tape and twill. Thank you infectious disease nurse in Swedish for the idea. Getting ready to deliver to local hospital if they will take it. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/3SV2SS3FPe

— Jitka Prokesova (@ProkesovaJitka) March 20, 2020

Any healthcare worker who is handed their one rationed mask to write their name on and a paper bag to put it in when not wearing it during their 12.5 hour shift during COVID-19 should have all student loan debt eliminated! PS thats just a dust mask it isn’t even an N95. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/0v5Dai6K5h

— Shannon Garcia (@Shannon95109032) March 20, 2020

Yesterday, I brought on 10 volunteers around USA to sew face masks. Designer Walid Popal (Northern CA) made these + is working on more. Please let me know which hospitals there need them!#MillionMaskMayDay #GetMePPE #MakeMedicalMasks #MakeMeMedicalMasks #CoronaVirus #covid_19 pic.twitter.com/RM4QAo4k5l

— Samira Atash (@samiraatash) March 20, 2020

This is the bandana I am going to rock up to work in when I no longer have proper protective equipment to take care of my patients. #GetMePPE pic.twitter.com/0uMivZmqlg

— Lisa Miller (@thedelports) March 20, 2020

The post #GetMePPE Trends as Healthcare Workers Turn to Social Media in Desperate Plea for Masks appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

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