Arizona has now received 75% of our allocation of personal protective equipment (gloves, masks, gowns, hoods) from the Strategic National Stockpile. The goods come in to the ADHS warehouse from the SNS and are shipped to the county/tribal health departments, who then prioritize where the PPE will go. Most are continuing to prioritize inpatient facilities.
In the mean-time, individual hospitals, community health centers, skilled nursing facilities and healthcare providers of all sizes are continuing to pursue PPE from their usual wholesalers. I presume that the state of Arizona is doing the same.
The bottom line is that there is only so much PPE in the world and it is in super high demand everywhere. The primary manufacturers are in China, which is now just in the process of getting their manufacturing industries up and running.
It’s unfortunate- but for the duration of the pandemic healthcare providers of all types won’t have the personal protective equipment that they have been accustomed to having their entire career.
The CDC has a website with some practical guidance to help healthcare providers conserve their PPE – they call it strategies to optimize the use of PPE. The site has separate guidance for masks, gloves, gowns, respirators, and ventilators. There’s also a PPE Burn Rate Calculator to help facilities calculate the use as they go.
Most facilities are probably already using Contingency Level conservation methods- and there is a good chance that’ll progress to the Crisis Level at some point in the next few weeks. Here’s a link to the state’s Contingency PPE Guidance.
