It's now been 14 weeks since the first coronavirus case was detected in the U.S., and Donald Trump STILL hasn't used his authority to get health care workers the protective equipment they need.
Nurses, doctors, and other health care workers are being forced to risk their own lives and health by re-using masks, gloves, and gowns, and most hospitals have less than a week of supply remaining.1
Who will take care of the sick and dying when the health care heroes--the majority of whom are women--get sick themselves ?
The only reason Trump can get away with this is because Senate Republicans are backing him up. So we are launching a social media ad campaign in the states of Republican senators up for re-election this fall highlighting real-life stories from nurses working on the frontlines without personal protective equipment.
When nurses, doctors, and other health care workers don't have the masks, gloves, and gowns to protect themselves, they put their own lives and health at risk, as well as their family and loved ones.
And we've seen the outcome : nurses and doctors themselves getting sick and, in some cases, dying from the coronavirus.2
But Trump still has failed to use his authority under the Defense Production Act to order U.S. industries to produce the medical supplies we need. That's why the majority of hospitals have already run out of protective equipment or have less than a week of supply left.
Of all Trumps' failures during the coronavirus pandemic--and there have been so many--none is more shameful than his failure to provide health care workers on the frontlines with the basic protective equipment they need.
Right now, according to #GetUsPPE, the organization started by physicians and medical researchers on the frontlines of the pandemic, health care workers need 500 million N95 respirators, 200 million medical ventilators, 20 million face shields, 500 million pairs of gloves, and 20 million surgical gowns.3
Congress is debating a new coronavirus relief bill this week, and it must provide protective equipment for health care workers on the frontlines of the pandemic. To get that done, we need at least a few Senate Republicans to break from Trump.
That's why we're launching this ad campaign aimed at the most vulnerable Republicans up for re-election this fall. Several of them are already in deep trouble politically, and by highlighting examples of health care workers in their states putting their lives at risk, we can put overwhelming pressure on them to finally stand up to Trump and do the right thing.
We've already heard from nearly 5,000 UltraViolet members who are health care workers, and we're taking these stories to show vulnerable senators, Cory Gardner and Susan Collins, how nurses in their states are suffering. And with your help, we'll use these stories to create powerful social media ads to pressure Republican senators to act now.
But we can't do it without your help.
Shaunna, Kat, Kathy, Anathea, Sonja, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, Maria, Kimberly, and Katie, the UltraViolet Action team.
Sources :
1. Healthcare workers protest for vital protection equipment, CNBC, April 18, 2020
2. Nurses, surgeons, janitors: the first US health workers to die from Covid-19, The Guardian, April 15, 2020
3. Call on your elected leaders to start making the Personal Protective Equipment healthcare workers need., GetUsPPE.org, accessed April 21, 2020
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