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| Nationwide, nurses are pleading for help from Donald Trump who can order manufacturers to make protective gear. |
As the first member of the National Nurses United (NNU) diedThursday, the union made a new appeal for more protective gear to care for patients who have COVID-19.
Noel Sinkiat, 64, planned to retire in December after 41 years working as a nurse at Howard University Hospital died, but he was stricked by the coronavirus and died on March 27.
Sinkiat, a Filipino American, was the first member of National Nurses United, which represents about 150,000 health-care workers nationwide, to succumb to the virus, the union said.
National Nurses United members are on the frontlines of the pandemic caring for COVID-19 patients. The union said that the executive orders and presidential memorandum the White House has issued regarding the use of the Defense Production Act do not yet fully exercise the presidential authority available under the statute.
“The president has taken the first steps to exercise the authorities given to him by the Defense Production Act,” said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN.
“We applaud him for using the statute to order ventilator production by General Motors, and we urge him to take similar actions to order manufacturers to immediately increase production of respirators, including N95s, and other personal protective equipment,” said the Filipino American RN.
National Nurses United members are on the frontlines of the pandemic caring for COVID-19 patients. The union said that the executive orders and presidential memorandum the White House has issued regarding the use of the Defense Production Act do not yet fully exercise the presidential authority available under the statute.
“The president has taken the first steps to exercise the authorities given to him by the Defense Production Act,” said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN.
“We applaud him for using the statute to order ventilator production by General Motors, and we urge him to take similar actions to order manufacturers to immediately increase production of respirators, including N95s, and other personal protective equipment,” said the Filipino American RN.
NNU sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump Thursday to demand that he immediately and fully invoke the presidential authorities granted in the Defense Production Act to increase the supply of necessary personal protective equipment for health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The union called on the president to order manufacturers to urgently increase production of respirators, face shields, coveralls, gloves, gowns, testing equipment and supplies, ventilators and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines.
“Across the nation, our health care workforce does not have the personal protective equipment it needs to safely care for patients without risking exposure to the virus,” NNU stated in the letter. “As a result, health care workers are at risk of illness and death, which puts our entire health care system at risk of collapse. Further, when health care workers are exposed to the virus, they risk transmitting the virus to their families, patients, and communities. If our country fails to immediately protect our health care workers, we will fail to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The union has called on Trump to immediately take the following actions to invoke the Defense Production Act:
The union called on the president to order manufacturers to urgently increase production of respirators, face shields, coveralls, gloves, gowns, testing equipment and supplies, ventilators and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machines.
“Across the nation, our health care workforce does not have the personal protective equipment it needs to safely care for patients without risking exposure to the virus,” NNU stated in the letter. “As a result, health care workers are at risk of illness and death, which puts our entire health care system at risk of collapse. Further, when health care workers are exposed to the virus, they risk transmitting the virus to their families, patients, and communities. If our country fails to immediately protect our health care workers, we will fail to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Medical professionals caring for coronavirus patients have been urging Trump to order manufacturers to produce more personal protective equipment. He has been reluctant to use that power despite mounting pressure from members of Congress and governors.
The union has called on Trump to immediately take the following actions to invoke the Defense Production Act:
- Invoke Title III of the Defense Production Act immediately by directing increased production of equipment and supplies from existing manufacturers, directing other industrial manufacturing facilities to transition to production of the equipment and supplies needed in the COVID-19 response, and immediately generate manufacturing purchase orders to ensure expedient production of essential equipment and supplies;
- Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to gather information on supplies and implement restrictions on hoarding; and
- Ensure the immediate and continued release and distribution of personal protective equipment, testing equipment, ventilators, and ECMO machines in the strategic national stockpile.
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