Government watchdog: Hospitals face severe shortages of medical gear, confusing guidance from government
An internal government report found that one hospital was so short of thermometers it could screen staff and patients for coronavirus only at random.
....
According to the report, one hospital received two shipments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with protective gear that had expired in 2010. Another hospital system received 1,000 masks from federal and state governments, even though it expected a much larger delivery, and "500 of the masks were for children and therefore unusable for adult staff," the report said. Elastic on N95 masks from one state government reserve had "dry-rotted" and could not be used, it said.
NBC News found its own examples of problems with the federal government's emergency national stockpile similar to those detailed in the report.
State officials in Alabama, South Carolina and Pennsylvania said they had received expired medical supplies.
In Michigan, hospitals were surprised to have made orders with suppliers only to find that they were diverted to the national stockpile, according to Ruthanne Sudderth, senior vice president for the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. "Vendors have told us that they need to send whatever they have to the national stockpile," Sudderth said.
'Unable to take employee temperatures'
According to the inspector general's report, hospitals told investigators that thermometers were in short supply, undermining hospitals' ability to check temperatures of staff members and patients for indicators of the coronavirus.
One hospital resorted to screening patients, staff members and vendors at random because it did not have enough thermometers, according to the report. Another hospital with more than 700 staff members reported having one or two thermometers and therefore was "unable to take employee temperatures," the report said.
more:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/government-watchdog-hospitals-face-severe-shortages-medical-gear-confusing-guidance-n1177256
DO SOMETHING!
| 