Ponchos without arm holes. Cloth masks. This is the “PPE” that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is sending to nursing homes to protect staff and residents from COVID-19.

Are they kidding? Sending inadequate equipment shows blatant disregard for nursing home residents and staff who are most at-risk.

Way back in April, President Trump promised that his administration would deploy “every resource” at its disposal to protect older Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. The Vice President even delivered a few cases of FEMA PPE to a Florida nursing home.

But the people on the front lines are afraid of using it -- with one health system CEO in New York recently saying “as we sit here today, I'm still not able to get more than a few days' supply of N95 masks, and I still struggle to a certain extent with gowns... that doesn't make you sleep at night, because you're not sure when the next delivery comes.”

We know that at least 26,000 nursing home residents and workers have died from COVID-19 already. That is shameful and FEMA has to fix it.

Thanks for all you do.

Sincerely,

Richard Fiesta

Executive Director

Alliance for Retired Americans