National Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Drive Week: March 23-29, 2020

Did you stack-up your attic with PPE such as hand sanitizers, disposable facemasks, gloves and gowns? What were you thinking? To put them on before going out to your driveway and tossing your garbage bag in your own trashcan? Did you plan on using them before opening your mailbox or scrubbing your mails with sanitizer before opening them? If you believe that corona is following you like your own shadow; all I can say is that I’m truly sorry for you! A smart rascal like corona must be outsmarted by common sense hygienic practices and not by irrational hysteria!

Widespread shortage of PPE adversely affects the ability of medical workers to fight the covid-19 and jeopardizes their lives.

What if you come down with flu symptoms; do you envision going to your nearby hospital? I would bet you do! I’m also sure that you expect our health professionals to take care of you; don’t you? 

I trust that you must be well-aware that there is a national shortage of basic protective supplies at our healthcare facilities. Doctors and healthcare providers who are on the frontline of our defense against Covid-19 are experiencing alarming shortages of PPE. Governors across the country and the Federal government are well-aware of this, but they were caught off-guard as the current pandemonium was underestimated across the globe. The catch is that we got Covid-19 from China, and a big chunk of the world’s medical supplies are also imported from China. It is understandable that Chinese citizens must have been the primary beneficiaries of most of those PPE products; however, the leftovers, amidst international shipping limitations, by no means can meet the worldwide demand on a timely basis. I trust that our City, State and Federal governments are smart enough to figure out how to address these shortages. I also trust that they can do it within the next few weeks. The question is how we can do our part or share in the interim!

This is a common finding across the USA!

Click to see how to do our small part for a big difference? If each of us does our part, I am convinced that we can collectively do something big, and positively impact the current situation. I am suggesting this, in particular, to those who have obsessively stored a lifetime stockpile of PPE at their homes. I am targeting them because I believe they are most likely over 60, well-off financially, and possibly may have co-morbidities (diabetes, obesity, hypertension, or COPD) that may make the course of their ailments more complicated.  Would you mind donating some of those extras to your nearby nursing homes, health care facilities, or hospitals? How about giving a box or two of those extra facial masks to your niece or your nephew who is working on daily basis at a healthcare facility? Think of it this way; what you donate may go a long way. It will safeguard a few of our frontline medical heroes who serve many people who desperately need their helps! In the interim this will allow our government to get a better handle on the situation.

How everyone of us can do his/her part?  So, tell me, what’s your take on this? You may say that I don’t have extra hygienic supplies or disposable garments to donate. If so, that’s perfectly alright. But there is still a way you can make a big difference for those who are fighting on the frontline for all of us. Do you know how? The least you can do is to share the word about the PPE drive with a few friends of yours. Don’t say that you cannot even do this! We are all part of humanity in the end! 

Just remember that our health professionals and heroes on the frontline of the battle against this pandemic and amidst the worldwide pandemonium need our support. Let’s step-up the drive of helping them, now!  

Please help our frontline heroes!
Don’t they deserve to have their basic protective gears!

Let’s mark our calendars! Let’s begin our PPE drive on Monday, March 23rd! Let’s end it on the 29th! Do you know why it ends on the 29th? Because it’s the day before the National Doctors’ Day, and it’s our collective way of appreciating them! 

Let us help them save our humanity!

Dr. E

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Also known as "Dr. Testbuster", Dr. Eftekar (Dr. E) is the founder, head coach and lead lecturer of the medical board training programs at Northwestern Medical Review. A unique attribute of Dr. E is his well-rounded academic background that, in addition to the science of medicine, extends over several other disciplines such as physiology of aging and longevity, philosophy of science and medicine, and integrated kinesiology.

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