Even after months of the epidemic, the US authorities are unable to stabilize the supply of personal protective equipment, which forces doctors to take desperate measures.
About this writes the publication The Guardian.
For example, Silver Elliott, an employee of the New Jersey Nursing Home, told the reporters that she had to make a deal with an unknown man right in the parking lot in order to buy the necessary protective equipment for the staff.
“I swear I don’t even know his name”, – she admitted.
Ian Smith, a cardiologist from South Carolina, after several months of futile searches for a provider of supplies, decided to independently import ethyl alcohol, aloe and containers from Lithuania. All this he needed to receive a disinfectant. In the process, he even learned a little Lithuanian.
Massachusetts chief surgeon Paula Muto said local doctors are “fighting” each other for lidocaine. In an attempt to cope with the shortage, she contacted a supplier who has sources in Spain.
Andy Berman, director of the Florida Association of Community Health Centers Association, was trying to buy bathrobes, gloves, and masks for community clinics, and was forced to work with even the most unreliable providers.
According to him, such a partnership is accompanied by thoughts:
“God, I hope that these guys have no problems with the law”.
Having made his first order for 100,000 respirators, Berman faced a delay of several days. Then, instead of 100 thousand, only 50 thousand respirators were already sold to him. Moreover, if at first he was guaranteed N95, then later the quality decreased to KN95. With all this, only the price of $180 thousand remained unchanged.
As News Front previously reported, in the midst of a pandemic, the United States faced an incredible shortage of medical products. Doctors had to work without masks or use them several times, contrary to the rules. Later it became known that the crisis could have been avoided, but American companies were actively selling masks along with mechanical ventilation machines to China when the coronavirus was raging there. Independent doctors, community clinics, and nursing homes are most affected by the shortage of medical supplies in the United States.