Petition Demanding PPE for Healthcare Workers Has 1.7 Million Signatures

Created by three physicians, the petition calls for 3 million signatures and will be presented to both houses of Congress and the Trump administration eventually. As others have noted, the petition cites a key change in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines allowing the use of surgical masks instead of N95 respirators for COVID-19 patients.

“This shift does not come in response to overwhelming evidence, rather to a supply chain issue,” the petition states. “[The CDC has said] ‘when the supply chain is restored, facilities with a respiratory protection program should return to use of respirators for patients with known or suspected COVID-19.’”

The CDC statement, which essentially acknowledges that the droplet precautions with surgical masks are a step down from the respirator level needed to protect workers, has been misinterpreted by some hospitals, the petition claims.

“As a result of these recom-mendations, many hospitals have taken the CDC recommendations to mean that face masks are the preferred PPE, rather than a less desired (and potentially less safe) alternative,” the petition states. This has resulted in rationing of respirators for procedures, such as intubation and bronchoscopy, during which the virus is more likely to become aerosolized, the petition notes.

“Considering the mortality risk and lack of data to support a step-down to surgical masks, N95 masks should continue to be the standard PPE for care of COVID-19 patients,” the petition states. “As a physician, I do not know how long it takes to make an N95 mask, but I do know how long it takes to train a physician, a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant, a respiratory therapist or nurse. We are the supply chain that needs to be protected.”

Nurse Union Demands Action

In a similar development, National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union of registered nurses in the United States, is sending letters to governors and hospital employers in 18 states.² The states with NNU members among their nursing force include Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia.

The NNU is demanding that nurses not only have the PPE they need, but that states and employers provide them with housing and childcare as needed to remain on the job.

“NNU has heard too many reports of nurses sleeping in their cars or garages to protect their families from potential infection, and far too many reports of nurses being told to use their sick or vacation time to cover precautionary leave after being exposed,” NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN, said in a statement. The NNU demands include provisions for child care and elder care as needed so nurses can stay on the job as schools and facilities close. The NNU asks hospitals not to assign nurses at high risk of complications from COVID-19 infection to care for these patients Other NNU demands include:

• Notify all nurses who have come into contact with a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient or hospital staff member who has been exposed.
• Implement universal masking of all workers, while maintaining a protocol of N95 respirators for nurses caring for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.
• Provide universal testing of all hospital employees and make retesting available upon request to avoid false negatives.

REFERENCES

1. Kviatkovsky MJ, Chace C, Thota S. US physicians/healthcare workers for personal protective equipment in COVID-19 pandemic. Change.org. https://www.change.org/p/hospital-administrators-us-physicians-healthcare-workers-for-personal-protective-equipment-in-covid-19-pandemic
2. National Nurses United. CAN/NNOC demands state governors, employers give nurses housing, child care, other protections. Published April 10, 2020. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/cnannoc-demands-state-governors-employers-give-nurses-housing-child-care-other-protections