“We obviously realize that as a community, as a state, and as a country, we are going to quickly run out of personal protective equipment,” said Jeff Cooper, Public Health – Dayton & Montgomery County health commissioner.
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The five skids that arrived from Columbus on Monday won’t last long if the virus continues to spread, said Dan Suffoletto, a spokesman for the public health agency.
“If those cases get beyond a certain point, that’s going to overflow the system,” he said. “This is an unprecedented situation, and what’s playing out here in Montgomery County is playing out in every county throughout the state … And when you multiply that throughout the United States, that’s going to be a large number of people requesting the same thing.”
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Dayton Fire Chief Jeff Lykins said city EMS crews are already rationing scarce protective equipment.
“I think they would all like to show up with an N95 mask on. That just isn’t a reality,” he said. “We may have several members on the scene, but you may only have one actual touchpoint, one member providing services.”
Lykins said Dayton put in an order for personal protective equipment back in January. It still hasn’t arrived.
“We are really being very thoughtful — even to the amount of latex gloves we wear,” he said. “We continue to look for PPE all across the region — actually worldwide … It’s a real concern and hopefully we’ll get some relief.”
Efforts to help gather and distribute the critical supplies are being coordinated through Montgomery County’s Emergency Operations Center, which was activated late last week.
Montgomery County Administrator Michael Colbert said while no donations have been made yet, pleas have been made to medical associations, dental associations and local chambers of commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and other key associations.
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Donations are not being taken from the general public. Some business that may have the in-demand supplies on hand include, local veterinarians, dentists, construction companies and manufacturers, Colbert said.
“This is really for the business communities that usually use these supplies, those businesses out there that would normally have some level of supply on hand so that they can share those,” Colbert said.
Businesses with pallet-size or larger donations should contact St. Vincent DePaul at 937-425-0592 to schedule a drop-off time. Donations smaller than a pallet can be dropped off between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at St. Vincent DePaul’s warehouse at 945 S. Edwin C. Moses Blvd. in Dayton.
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Created in 1999, the Strategic National Stockpile stores life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergencies that cause local supplies to run out.
Colbert said the amount of emergency stockpile equipment received by the county is based on a population formula. About 50% of the supplies will go to area hospitals, 20% to EMS personnel, 20% to long-term care facilities, 5% to law enforcement and 5% to hospice home health care, Colbert said.
The county’s EOC is also working with community partners to ensure distribution of necessary food supplies, including for school children and seniors. A system is also being developed to coordinate volunteer support, said Montgomery County Commission President Judy Dodge.
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