Healthcare workers have taken to social media to issue a plea for protective clothing as they fight the coronavirus.
The HSE admitted yesterday that that its stock of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers are “low”, and last weekend a report in the Sunday Business Post revealed that Dr Dónal O’Hanlon wrote to the Minister on behalf of the Irish Hospitals Consultants Association warning that stocks of protective equipment stocks were “running out” in some locations, “leaving frontline staff and their patients in extremely exposed positions”.
This video from St James’s Hospital is an urgent plea for protective clothing is being shared on Twitter.
“We need personal protective equipment – masks, gowns, gloves. If you work in the pharma or food industry and have personal protective equipment, we need them. I guarantee they’ll be used by frontline staff” Dr Anne-Marie McLaughlin, a respiratory consultant in the hospital is seen asking.
Please share with any contacts in Pharma/Food industries etc. Frontline staff in St James's Hospital are urgently seeking protective clothing to allow them treat patients safely. #COVID19 #Covid19ireland pic.twitter.com/fKx9EGpNr8
— Sinéad McGarry (@Sineadmcgar) March 24, 2020
Dr McLaughlin asked people to contact [email protected] if they had PPE supplies.
Others were also seeking to source PPE for frontline staff on social media.
“ED Doctor friend has asked me to help to bulk source disposable shower caps for frontline staff as part of their personal protective equipment. Their hospital needs a few hundred. Anyone know anyone in hospitality/hotel industry or other who can spare some? ” wrote a management consultant on Twitter.
Please RT.
ED Doctor friend has asked me to help to bulk source disposable shower caps for frontline staff as part of their personal protective equipment.
Their hospital needs a few hundred. Anyone know anyone in hospitality/hotel industry or other who can spare some?
— Miriam Ahern (@MiriamAhern) March 21, 2020
There were positive responses.
Sent 600 to Beaumont this morning from Buswells @BuswellsHotel
— Paul Gallagher (@PaulGall186) March 23, 2020
The proportion of cases involving healthcare workers continues to rise, and now stands at 26 per cent (247 cases).
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