Dr. James Phillips: We Need Assurance from Gov’t that PPE Equipment Is Coming For Our Medical Personnel

EXCERPT:

PHILLIPS: “And day after day we’re getting bombarded with this news that a) we don’t have enough testing, and now stories that we’re running out of PPE. I talk to friends all around the country and get e-mails all the time. There are hospitals that are starting to run short on supplies, real supplies like the masks that will protect healthcare workers from getting this disease. And that means that my friends and I will be going into the battle without equipment. We wouldn’t send our soldiers in without guns, but we're going to send doctors and nurses in the fray without proper equipment. That’s happened in Italy. And every single day that these doctors and nurses are taking care of patients, they are risking their lives. I’m the son of a firefighter, the nephew of a firefighter, the grandson of a firefighter. They risk their lives every day. That’s not something we’re used to thinking about in our jobs, but it is right now. What I want is some hope from my federal government saying, 'We’ll get you that equipment.' I know that the testing is coming and I realize that. But we need equipment. We need N95 masks and we need the Defense Production Act to kick into gear and make us masks, get ventilators for our patients. Because every day that goes by, we’re in trouble."