Thread by @DBelardoMD

Doctors, nurses & ALL healthcare providers need adequate Personal Protective Equipment so they can treat patients without spreading COVID & also safely protect themselves.

Everyone can help us! Here is how:

CC: @DarilynMoyer @ACPinternists

Please share w/ everyone you can🙏

@ACPinternists has contacted President Trump and requested the Defense Production Act be invoked to require manufacturers to make ALL PPE for physicians and other health care workers.

acponline.org/acp-newsroom/i…

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“Such action is needed to address the COVID-19-induced shortage of masks, gowns, gloves, and other PPE that put frontline medical professionals who are caring for patients at grave risk of becoming infected and sickened by the virus, and then spreading it to colleagues,

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family members, and patients,” wrote Robert McLean, MD, MACP, president, ACP in the letter to the White House. The letter went on to note the dire shortages of PPE that are being widely experienced and the drastic measure that some hospitals and clinics are taking to manage.

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It also noted that while the administration has used the DPA to require General Motors to produce ventilators, that the administration should more broadly apply it to ensure an adequate supply of PPE. ACP suggested that the authority should be used to:

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1️⃣Require manufacturers prioritize the production of PPE for domestic consumption & sale of PPE to the government for distribution. Similarly, manufacturers who produce masks for non-medical purposes should be directed to shift production to produce medical-standard masks.

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The administration should distribute these resources in a way that best reflects the public health need on the ground. Additionally, in conjunction with a joint resolution from Congress, the administration should explore imposing price controls on PPE and other medical

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essentials to prevent price gouging and ensure equipment and treatments are accessible to all.

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2️⃣ In the long term, the administration should offer manufacturers the capital and equipment needed to expand facilities and drastically increase output of equipment for distribution and to add to the Strategic National Stockpile.

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3️⃣ The administration should create voluntary agreements with private industry that would allow for manufacturers to coordinate on the production of PPE.

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So here is where action comes in:

⁉️HOW CAN YOU HELP⁉️

✅Sign up for the Advocates for Internal Medicine Network here **you do not have to be a doctor to sign up and help!**:

acponline.org/advocacy/advoc…

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✴️As key issues approach the decision-making stage on Capitol Hill, @ACPinternists emails Legislative alerts to AIMn members through the Legislative Action Center. Legislative alerts include all of the necessary information (including sample messages that can be easily

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personalized) to make informative contacts with members of Congress. Once enrolled as an Advocate you can use the College's LAC to respond easily to current ACP legislative alerts, identify your federal legislators, monitor important legislation, and e-mail or call your

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members of Congress to advocate for healthcare workers across the United States.

☑️Additionally, don’t forget to remind your loved ones everywhere about the importance of social distancing, @ACPinternists has some great info available here:

acponline.org/acp-newsroom/i…

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Over the last few months, physicians, nurses, & healthcare providers around the 🌎 have died while on the front lines of COVID19 due to lack of PPE. This is preventable🙏

Please help us by signing up for @ACPinternists Legislative Action Center today:

acponline.org/advocacy/advoc…