The hospital I work in is at the epicenter of an outbreak of COVID-19. Management is locking up our N95 masks so that we no longer have access to them.
Here's the problem: I work in the ED in a hospital in California. We have already seen patients who are confirmed positive and many who are presumptive positive. We are required to wear basic surgical masks at all times even without direct patient care, but they have begun locking up our supply of N95 masks in the manager's office. They say it is "because they are in short supply" and you need special permission to get one--but that's near impossible when management is gone after 5PM. Their alternative is to provide us with particulate masks that have an expiration date marked in 2007. We have very few CAPR hoods and they are all in use in the ICU and other wards for patients that have tested positive and were admitted. In addition to the influx of COVID-19 patients, we still have the other patients on standard airborne precautions, and I ended up having to take care of a r/o TB patient the other day with one of the expired masks on. My reason for posting this on a throwaway account is this-- I don't know who to go to about this severe public and staff health and safety issue. Management has made it very clear that our option of using the expired masks is perfectly okay and confronting them about it would not only be completely useless, but it would also put a target on my back. Any advice on how to deal with this issue?
Posted Mar 12, 2020, 6:05 AM UTC