Anonymous,
The COVID-19 crisis has posed an unprecedented challenge for our country -- and our country's ability to respond has been hindered by unnecessary obstacles to repairing medical devices, shortages of critical supplies, and our limited ability to test for the virus.
U.S. PIRG and our national network have assembled a COVID-19 response team of experts, advocates, organizers and researchers to tackle these problems head-on -- and we're making progress.
I want to take a moment to share with you the stories of a few of the people on the frontlines of this crisis who are helping us make strides toward a healthier, safer world:
"We can't always wait ... for the vendor"
"As [biomedical equipment technicians], we don't always have access to everything we need to keep medical devices up and running, and that can cause delays at critical times.
"Let's say a ventilator -- or any device for that matter -- breaks when a patient needs it. Well, we can't always wait hours, days or even weeks for the vendor to send someone, especially if they're not local. As onsite technicians, we can get those machines back up and running in a matter of minutes. But to do that, we need service manuals, parts, diagnostic software and tools that some manufacturers won't let us access.
"Biomeds have been facing this problem for years, but many of us feel like the conversation has changed. During this public health crisis, PIRG is successfully leading the charge to win the release of service information for the medical equipment that patients depend on -- including ventilators."
-- Leticia, President of the Colorado Association of Biomedical Equipment Technicians
"We were fitted for one mask."
"When the outbreak began, we were so short on N95s that we were fitted for one mask -- that was it, that's what you got. And supplies are still tight, so we don't throw away our N95s until they're unusable. We're basically reusing everything that, in a normal hospital environment, we would throw away and open up a new one for each case.
"We need to have a nationally coordinated effort to get personal protective equipment to hospitals. We can't continue to pit one state against another in bidding for medical supplies.
"I support PIRG's campaign calling on the federal government to set up a centralized system to distribute critical medical supplies because it will help ensure that the hardest-hit areas get the supplies they need to respond to the virus."
-- Dr. Francine Bruder, physician at a federally qualified health center in Michigan
"Not everyone who needs a test can get one"
"In March, I had symptoms: coughing, chills, exhaustion. At one point it got so bad that I had to open my car door at a traffic light and vomit over the side. Soon, my whole household was sick -- my eleven-month-old daughter, my teenage son, my husband, and my parents who are both in their 60s.
"As a health care worker who may have been exposed to COVID-19, my husband was able to get tested. But the shortage of tests and testing materials has meant that not everyone who needs a test can get one. And those who do can face long waits to get their results. It took eight days for my husband's test to come back and, thankfully, it was negative.
"Our inability to test for the coronavirus on a wide scale -- to know who has the virus and who doesn't -- is inhibiting our ability to respond to the outbreak. That's why we are working to make sure tests are available for those who need them by calling on the federal government to adopt a plan that will ramp up our testing capacity."
-- Laura Deehan, U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate
These are just a few of the people who are helping us advocate for solutions to some of the most pressing problems our healthcare systems face. But none of our work on these urgent campaigns would be possible without the support of people like you. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Faye Park
President
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