Daily Roundup: Trump’s Failure To Prepare Leaves Overworked Healthcare Workers Reusing Vital PPE In “Medical War Zone”
The effects of President Trump’s failure to adequately prepare for the coronavirus – despite “ominous” warnings from his own intelligence agencies – continue to compound in recent days as frontline health care providers face critical shortages of supplies.
Here’s a roundup of the consequences of Trump’s failure to address the shortages of masks, ventilators and tests:
Trump Administration Sending Damaged Supplies To States, Sending Needed Supplies To Europe and Sometimes Not Sending Anything At All
Business Insider: New York Hospitals Received Damaged Ventilators With Missing Parts In Emergency Shipments From A National Stockpile
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“Northwell Health, New York’s largest healthcare provider, received more than 100 ventilators from the stockpile, some of which were missing hoses that pump air into patients’ lungs, according to Terry Lynam, the health system’s chief public-relations officer. Others lacked stands that prop up the machines, he said.” [Business Insider, 3/31/20]
Vanity Fair: As U.S. Hospitals Face Shortages, Trump Vows To Send Ventilators—To Europe
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“Trump insisted that the current production of ventilators will so outweigh U.S. demand that the country could send the excess to hard-hit European countries. ‘As we outpace what we need, we’re going to be sending them to Italy, we’re going to be sending them to France, we’re going to be sending them to Spain, where they have tremendous problems, and other countries as we can,’ Trump said. ‘But the fact that we’re doing so many so quickly is a tribute to our great companies.’” [Vanity Fair, 3/31/20]
CNN: Pentagon Says It Still Hasn’t Sent Ventilators Because It Hasn’t Been Told Where To Send Them
Shortages Force Healthcare Workers To Split Life-Saving Equipment, Reuse Protective Gear
NBC: Dallas Nurse Explains How She Reuses Same Masks Amid PPE Shortage
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“…Thomas cares for patients in skilled nursing facilities throughout Dallas. Her patients are elderly, often frail and highly susceptible to COVID-19. She said she can see up to some 20 patients a day, and her visits always require a lot of physical interaction… ‘The mask is one thing that is really hard because I don’t have anymore. I have about five that I’m rotating out and I have to clean them off every time I use them,’ Thomas said.” [NBC DFW, 3/30/20]
Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Prompts Hospitals To Find Ways To Reuse Masks Amid Shortages
Politico: Trump Officials Tell Desperate Hospitals That Patients Can Share Ventilators
Las Vegas Sun: Las Vegas’ Shortage Of Acute Care Beds In Hospitals Points To Looming Crisis As Outbreak Spreads
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“Once ICU beds in Las Vegas are all in use, new coronavirus patients who otherwise might survive stand a higher likelihood of perishing simply for the lack of resources. If the… projection is accurate, Las Vegas will experience a shortage of ICU beds in a little over a week.” [Las Vegas Sun, 3/29/20]
USA Today: More Than 3,000 Coronavirus Deaths In Us As Large Cities Battle Hospital Bed Shortages
Reuters: With Hospitals Under Siege, U.S. To Build Hundreds Of Temporary Coronavirus Wards
NBC News: Coronavirus Medication Shortages Will Be Felt By Patients With Covid-19 — And Some Without
CNN: Inside A Brooklyn Hospital That Is Overwhelmed With Covid-19 Patients And Deaths
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“Covid-19, Dr. Arabia Mollette said, has turned the Brooklyn-based hospital into ‘a war zone…’ ‘A medical war zone,’ Mollette, an emergency room physician at Brookdale Hospital, told CNN. ‘Every day I come, what I see on a daily basis, is pain, despair, suffering and health care disparities.’” [CNN, 3/30/20]
And Hospitals Are Now Encouraging Their Employees To Keep Quiet About The Dearth Of Supplies
Daily Beast: Docs Buck Bosses To Beg Cuomo For Coronavirus Protective Gear
Bloomberg: Hospitals Tell Doctors They’ll Be Fired If They Speak Out About Lack of Gear
New York Times: Frightened Doctors Face Off With Hospitals Over Rules On Protective Gear
Governors, Officials and Fox News Hosts React To The Trump Administration’s Failure To Provide Critical Tests And Equipment, Pleading for Help
Fox News: Tucker Carlson: We Understand There’s A Shortage Of Medical Masks. Stop Lying To Us And Tell The Truth
Mediaite: Republican Governors Rebuke Trump’s Claims on Coronavirus Testing: ‘There’s No Question’ We Need More
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Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD): “I know that they’ve taken some steps to create new tests, but they’re not actually produced and distributed out to the states. So it’s an aspirational thing and they have taken they’ve got some new things in the works, but they’re not actually out on the streets.” [Mediaite, 3/31/20]
Washington Post: Governors Plead For Medical Equipment From Federal Stockpile Plagued By Shortages And Confusion
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“Governors and state officials have become increasingly frustrated by what they describe as a byzantine and unsteady process for distributing medical supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile. As they try to combat a worsening pandemic, several have complained about chaos and disarray within the system and a lack of guidance about how they can secure lifesaving supplies… Trump has contributed to the sense that politics could be a factor by publicly attacking Democratic governors who criticize his handling of the public health crisis.” [Washington Post, 3/31/20]
Politico: De Blasio: Trump’s Suggestion Face Masks Are Being Stolen Is ‘Insulting’
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker Asked For 300,000 N95 Masks — What He Got Were Surgical Masks With No Respiratory Protection
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“My team is sorting through the shipment of 300,000 N95 masks the White House personally told me would be sent to our state, and while we do not have a final count on this yet, I can say with certainty that what they sent were not the N95 masks that were promised but instead were surgical masks, which is not what we asked for.” [CNN, 3/31/20]