U of S med students set up donation drive for protective gear
Recognizing the urgent need at local hospitals, medical students at the University of Saskatchewan have created a personal protective equipment (PPE) donation drive to help Saskatoon and Regina hospital staff grapple with dwindling supplies and growing COVID-19 caseloads.
“As future health care professionals, we want to advocate for health in any possible way we can,” said Mckinley Smith, a firstyear student involved in the drive. “Right now, the best thing we can do is help out people working on the front lines.”
As of Wednesday, Saskatchewan had 86 cases of COVID -19. Canada had 2,792 cases.
“As first- and second-year medical students, we can’t do much on the front lines,” but we can support the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others who are, Smith said.
The donation drive, launched this week by Smith and 17 others, follows an initiative undertaken by Mcmaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
For anyone wishing to donate, Smith and his team created a survey that asks for information on the organization donating, as well as some screening questions.
“The screening protocol is to make sure it’s equipment that we need, that it’s safe for drivers to pick up, and that it’s safe for health professionals to use,” he said, noting that social distancing is practised by everyone involved.
Once a survey is complete, a medical student calls the donor to arrange pickup; there is no face-toface interaction.
So far, seven organizations in Saskatoon and Regina have donated 600 surgical masks, 40 N95 masks (which is the biggest need at hospitals right now), 9,900 pairs of gloves and six half-face respirators.
Ideally, new gloves and a new gown and mask should be used for every patient, but supplies are running out, Smith said. PPE is currently being used in emergency rooms for every positive case. However, guidelines for suspected cases are getting stretched due to shortages, putting health care workers on the front lines of this crisis at increased risk for exposure, he adds.
The group is awaiting direction from the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on where and how supplies can be equitably distributed.
Smith and other team members want to do their part for future colleagues, noting that the health of both patient and health provider matters.
“I can understand this is an extremely frustrating time for people on long waiting lists having their appointment dates pushed back,” Smith added.
“I would like to emphasize that health care professionals are people too, and are facing great stressors right now.
“Many of them feel overwhelmed with their current professional lives, which has great impact on their personal lives.”