N95 Archives - Merit Educational Consultants

As California Mother of the Year, and mother to a 35-year-old ER doctor, we have a serious problem when healthcare professionals do NOT have the basic PPE they need to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus that has killed over 30,000 people.

Where is OSHA?  They are supposed to protect healthcare professionals with even more protections than standard workplaces because protecting doctors and nurses also protects patients. If a classroom has mold on the walls, the teacher and students are immediately removed from the classroom until the school removes the mold and OSHA inspects the classroom to ensure that the teacher and students will be safe. So why isn’t OSHA enforcing these guidelines and holding hospital administrators, state and federal legislatures, CDC, and the President accountable?

Doctors and nurses are reusing N95 masks for their entire shift, and given paper bags with their names on them to hold their masks until their next shifts. This puts them at very high risk of getting the coronavirus. These N95 masks were designed and engineered to be a single-use mask. They are supposed to discard them after seeing every patient. So when our frontline healthcare professionals are required to use the same mask between several patients, they risk their lives and the lives of all of the patients they see.

In a huge humanitarian effort, the community has stepped up to sew cloth surgical masks for healthcare workers to use when they run out of masks. My daughter asked me to make cloth masks with HEPA filter inserts so she can wear it over her N95 mask. Her hope is that these cloth-and-filter masks might prolong the life of her N95 to give her some extra protection. My husband and I have been sewing around the clock to make masks for her entire ER staff. People all across the nation are pulling out their sewing machines and making all kinds of masks for local hospitals.

Over the weekend, I contracted a courier service to deliver the masks we made to the hospital, but found that the hospital administration had put a stop on homemade mask donations. Seriously? Just last week, I spoke with the hospital foundation and they welcomed homemade masks of any kind. Their website even included links to YouTube videos and patterns for masks, and they gave the address where masks and other donations could be dropped off. But the links were gone and homemade donations information were removed. My daughter confirmed that hospital personnel were NOT allowed to bring homemade masks to work over the weekend.

If the hospital won’t provide enough N95 masks to protect their employees from getting COVID-19, how dare they demand that healthcare professionals work without proper protection? Forcing them to leave their homemade masks and other safety devices at home is both unethical and criminal.

Hospital administration has also stipulated that ER doctors can only give coronavirus tests to very sick patients who are immunodeficient, on chemotherapy, or on dialysis. This sets the doctors up for potential lawsuits from patients who claim that they were sent away without testing and proper diagnosis. By not testing patients who are probably sick with COVID-19, their statistics will be inaccurately low so administrators will not be able to sufficiently order PPE, beds, and the facilities they will most likely need in the coming weeks.

Just a few days ago, Dr. Lin was fired in Washington state for posting about his fears and frustration on the lack of safety equipment and worker protections on social media. I believe there are many healthcare professionals who are fearful of retribution if they speak out. After his public outreach elicited demands from his community, the hospital administrators started giving temperature screenings to staff entering the building and plans to separate staff from infected patients and outside screenings in temporary tents. So now hospital administrators and others are firing whistleblowers?

As California Mother of the Year, I am reaching out to mothers, fathers, and everyone to demand that the doctors, nurses, paramedics, staff, and other first responder professionals receive ALL of the PPE (including test kits) they need to protect themselves from the coronavirus. They risk their lives — literally — every day to take care of all of us. Please sign this petition to demand that our hospital administrators, OSHA, state governors and legislature, CDC, and the President do their jobs to protect our frontline professionals.

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March 31, 2020

Protecting healthcare workers so they can save our lives

As California Mother of the Year, and mother to a 35-year-old ER doctor, we have a serious problem when healthcare professionals do NOT have the basic PPE they need to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus that has killed over 30,000 people.

Where is OSHA?  They are supposed to protect healthcare professionals with even more protections than standard workplaces because protecting doctors and nurses also protects patients. If a classroom has mold on the walls, the teacher and students are immediately removed from the classroom until the school removes the mold and OSHA inspects the classroom to ensure that the teacher and students will be safe. So why isn’t OSHA enforcing these guidelines and holding hospital administrators, state and federal legislatures, CDC, and the President accountable?

Doctors and nurses are reusing N95 masks for their entire shift, and given paper bags with their names on them to hold their masks until their next shifts. This puts them at very high risk of getting the coronavirus. These N95 masks were designed and engineered to be a single-use mask. They are supposed to discard them after seeing every patient. So when our frontline healthcare professionals are required to use the same mask between several patients, they risk their lives and the lives of all of the patients they see.

In a huge humanitarian effort, the community has stepped up to sew cloth surgical masks for healthcare workers to use when they run out of masks. My daughter asked me to make cloth masks with HEPA filter inserts so she can wear it over her N95 mask. Her hope is that these cloth-and-filter masks might prolong the life of her N95 to give her some extra protection. My husband and I have been sewing around the clock to make masks for her entire ER staff. People all across the nation are pulling out their sewing machines and making all kinds of masks for local hospitals.

Over the weekend, I contracted a courier service to deliver the masks we made to the hospital, but found that the hospital administration had put a stop on homemade mask donations. Seriously? Just last week, I spoke with the hospital foundation and they welcomed homemade masks of any kind. Their website even included links to YouTube videos and patterns for masks, and they gave the address where masks and other donations could be dropped off. But the links were gone and homemade donations information were removed. My daughter confirmed that hospital personnel were NOT allowed to bring homemade masks to work over the weekend.

If the hospital won’t provide enough N95 masks to protect their employees from getting COVID-19, how dare they demand that healthcare professionals work without proper protection? Forcing them to leave their homemade masks and other safety devices at home is both unethical and criminal.

Hospital administration has also stipulated that ER doctors can only give coronavirus tests to very sick patients who are immunodeficient, on chemotherapy, or on dialysis. This sets the doctors up for potential lawsuits from patients who claim that they were sent away without testing and proper diagnosis. By not testing patients who are probably sick with COVID-19, their statistics will be inaccurately low so administrators will not be able to sufficiently order PPE, beds, and the facilities they will most likely need in the coming weeks.

Just a few days ago, Dr. Lin was fired in Washington state for posting about his fears and frustration on the lack of safety equipment and worker protections on social media. I believe there are many healthcare professionals who are fearful of retribution if they speak out. After his public outreach elicited demands from his community, the hospital administrators started giving temperature screenings to staff entering the building and plans to separate staff from infected patients and outside screenings in temporary tents. So now hospital administrators and others are firing whistleblowers?

As California Mother of the Year, I am reaching out to mothers, fathers, and everyone to demand that the doctors, nurses, paramedics, staff, and other first responder professionals receive ALL of the PPE (including test kits) they need to protect themselves from the coronavirus. They risk their lives — literally — every day to take care of all of us. Please sign this petition to demand that our hospital administrators, OSHA, state governors and legislature, CDC, and the President do their jobs to protect our frontline professionals.

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March 22, 2020

Donate PPEs to Frontline Workers

“Ask not what your country can do for you,
but what you can do for your country!”

— President John F. Kennedy

Never thought I’d be citing President Kennedy’s inaugural address outside of a history class. But we are fighting a similar war like we were in back in 1961 — instead of fighting communism, we are fighting a virus. When our frontline medical workers don’t have the personal protection equipment (PPE) they need to stay safe from the coronavirus, hospitals will not be able to help the hundreds (or more) of people who will need medical care. After watching this administration’s leadership first declare this to be a hoax; remove the Pandemic Unit of the National Security Council; and outbid states on purchasing N95 masks, and then tell the governors that they’re on their own to fix this pandemic, I think we all know that we can’t rely on our federal government to protect us from the coronavirus. We need to do our part to slow this pandemic to save our lives.

So, what can YOU do?
1. Stay home
Keep at least 6 feet between you and everyone.
2. Send visitors away
Don’t allow them into your homes.
3. Sew masks
If you have a sewing machine and scrap fabric, sew masks for frontline workers.
Check vmcfoundation.org after March 23rd for guidelines and instructions on how to make          masks to donate to Valley Medication Foundation.
Here is a website that shows you how to make several types of masks and shields:
4. Donate masks
If you have access to new N95 masks, surgical masks, or face shields, please donate to       hospitals that need them. Call or check online to see what they need and what requirements are in place.

I checked with Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA and they need the following NOW:
New N95 Respirator Masks
New Surgical Masks
New Face Shields
New Gowns
Disinfectant Wipes
Hand Sanitizers
Goggles
Thermometers

Drop off or send to:
Valley Medical Center Foundation
2400 Clove Drive
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 885-5299 or vmcfoundation@hhs.sccgov.org

As American citizens, we can work together to give our medical frontline professionals the protection they need to treat the very sick and the COVID-19 patients. Encourage everyone to donate new masks and shields to the hospitals that need them. Sew cloth masks for your local hospitals or send to Valley Medical Foundation. Hunker down and stay at least 6 feet away from others to slow the spread of this deadly virus. We can do this! It’s up to us to take control and stop the coronavirus from spreading.