Docs told: Gird for no protection

Hospitals must begin preparing doctors and nurses to work without protective gear, according to a new memo from the New York State Health Department.

The directive — dated Thursday and distributed to hospital administrators and nursing and medical directors — warns that “facilities and providers need to plan and prepare now for the unavailability of PPE,” or personal protective gear.

Nurses, doctors and other frontline workers have been demanding adequate protective gear for weeks, with some using single-use N95 masks for five days or more.

It surfaced Friday as Gov. Cuomo ordered any hospitals with ventilators and PPE not in use, to turn them over to the National Guard to be distributed to hospitals in dire need. For the past two days, Cuomo has warned that the supply of ventilators is dangerously low in many hospitals.

Pat Kane, executive director of the New York State Nurses Associationpraised Cuomo for the move, but said it needs to be broadened.

“New York needs to look to New Jersey where the law empowers the state to take PPE not in use from businesses, not just hospitals, especially as President Trump hasn’t used the Defense Production Act to order the manufacturing of PPE,” she said. “There’s a shortage of nurses to care for ventilated patients and without proper protection, too many are getting sick.”

Neither Kane nor the governor’s office immediately responded to questions about the state Health Department directives sent Thursday.

General protocols outlined in the memo involve assigning health care workers who have recovered from COVID-19 to coronavirus patients.