CHARLOTTE, N.C. — "They are just getting slammed."
Waxhaw based Dr. Sheila Natarajan is getting more and more worried about her friends and colleagues.
She says the Facebook posts she is seeing and texts she’s been getting over the last week have been pretty scary talking about the lack of protective gear.
"We heard ER physicians and staff posting, 'Does anyone have an N95 – any extra masks?'" she said. "I realized if we're already at the place where the front lines are scrambling for PPE, things must be pretty bad."
She says the shortage is so bad, hospital workers are preserving the N95 masks and not using them as often as they should be.
"We're already practicing at under-standard of care and the only thing we have after an n95 is gone is a surgical mask," she said. "That does not protect you from certain particles."
Natarajan and other Charlotteans are organizing a donation drive to help get protective gear.
"We created this drive for our colleagues on the front lines because any moment they are without protection they can get virus or spread it. So literally every mask can save a life."
Goodwill is re-opening two locations to serve as drop off sites for the gear:
- the opportunity campus on Wilkinson Boulevard near Charlotte Douglas International Airport
- Goodwill Ballantyne
- Both will open Thursdays and Saturdays from 12-4 starting April 2