ALAMEDA COUTY, Calif. (KRON) — Getting prepared for a possible surge in coronavirus cases is top of mind for federal, state, and local officials.
One major concern is a shortage of protective gear for frontline medical workers.
KRON4 got a status report on the supply stockpile from the person in charge of emergency medicine in Alameda County.
Dr. John Swartzberg Professor Emeritus with U.C. Berkeley’s School of Public Health says there is a severe shortage at many Bay Area hospitals of personal protective equipment for masks, face shields and gowns, with N95 masks in particular being reserved for the highest risk situations.
Meanwhile Jim Morrissey, the tactical medical program director of Alameda County’s EMS says they’ve seen some recent success procuring those coveted 95 masks.
He said they’ve handed out well over 300,000 so far during this recent crisis, and recently got another 700,000 now stored in an undisclosed location ready to be distributed as needed.
Another million plus have been ordered and are in the pipeline, along with a half million surgical masks.
Also in the pipeline — a request to the state for items that have been harder to come by of late with the national surge in demand — goggles, face shields, thermometers, gloves, and gowns.
Hospitals and first responders make up the top tier of those with getting first dibs on the supplies. Tier two include skilled nursing homes and clinics.
As of Friday, the county says they are in better shape of late in terms of space in their local hospitals with 421 currently empty and available hospital beds, 86 isolation beds and 39 beds in ICU.
They also have 141 ventilators ready to go for incoming patients, up 44 from Thursday.
The EMS supervisor believes it’s the effort to keep the streets clear by residents sheltering in place, which is helping create the current extra room in local hospitals.
In Alameda County, the ambulance transport rate is down 30-percent from normal since they are responding to fewer things such as car accidents and industrial accidents, with more people staying at home and out of harm’s way.
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