In rapid response to the national emergency and to better combat COVID-19, the Society of Nurse Scientists Innovators Entrepreneurs & Leaders (SONSIEL) launched an immediate national call-to-action requesting that non-hospital inventories of personal protective equipment (PPE) be shared with hospital and healthcare facilities via community dialogue.
The call-to-action, deemed SHARE (Strengthen Healthcare Ability to Respond to Emergencies), seeks to quickly raise awareness about the need for PPE on the front lines of care, and to spur, at the grassroots level, an immediate community dialogue regarding available supplies of urgently needed equipment.
Non-hospital healthcare organizations and commercial businesses use PPE and other needed equipment in day-to-day activities. Nursing and medical schools, pharmaceutical labs, veterinarians, dentists, and simulation centers, even construction, cleaning, and landscaping companies, may have PPE access and inventory.
SONSIEL is asking hospital and healthcare facilities to look to these other entities for possible additional supply in order to help keep staff caring for COVID-19 patients and the patients themselves safe. The type of equipment needed, that commonly is used by other entities and in other industries, includes respirator masks, eyewear (goggles, shields, visors), and gloves (latex, latex-tipped, protective). Non-hospital healthcare providers also may have available inventories of gowns, caps, or other items.
Remarked Rebecca C. Love, SONSIEL President & Co-Founder, “Today, as this COVID-19 crisis unfolds, we’re launching a grassroots campaign, SHARE, to help ensure adequate supplies of equipment are available to healthcare workers tending to our most vulnerable population. At this time, many of our hospitals are facing a critical shortage of protective equipment; there are not enough gloves, masks, or gowns to safeguard our frontline healthcare workers. Healthcare workers must be protected—to enable them to continue to provide care, for their own well-being, and to prevent transmission to others. At present, there is this global shortage of equipment, a several-month delay, however we believe SHARE is an innovative, community-based solution that can help swiftly back-fill this temporary deficiency.”
“Please join SONSIEL in this vital effort. We are asking you and everyone across the country to get out the word and start a dialogue. Think innovatively about where appropriate and needed supplies might be found to SHARE. If you’re a business or scholastic institution, please consider how donations of any already available PPE within a community might help your local hospitals and healthcare providers. While particular region and facility needs may differ, coming together, directly, in a conversation, locally, helps all of our communities target, identify, and triage supplies and equipment, so that what is in stock is made available to healthcare providers as soon as possible.”
Ms. Love concluded, “I’d like to thank the entire SONSIEL Board of Directors, who acted quickly and completely in supporting this initiative at a critical point in time. Together, I know we will get through this challenge, all of us, one community at a time.”
Northeastern University and Massachusetts General Hospital are the first to engage in SHARE. SONSIEL hopes many organizations, businesses, and hospitals around the country will do the same.
For information on SHARE, visit https://sonsiel.org/coronavirus.
To donate to their GoFundMe campaign, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/nurses-ppe-supplies.
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