GET US PPE
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March of 2020, I felt paralyzed by the stay-at-home orders and the news of overflowing hospitals. In May, I began volunteering for Get Us PPE, a grassroots nonprofit that had begun not two months prior. Get Us PPE provides donated PPE at no cost to frontline workers and under-resourced communities with a sense of urgency and a focus on equity.
My role began as a blog writer. I noticed that GUP had a trove of data from incoming PPE requests across the country—the only database of its kind—and volunteered to turn that data into something journalists, policy-makers, and the public could use. I joined the public relations team as a co-lead and began analyzing, designing, writing, and pitching a monthly PPE Shortage Index cataloguing each months PPE shortages nationwide. The effort continues today.
The PPE Shortage Index, 2020
The PPE Shortage Index is a monthly collection of proprietary summary metrics, designed and put together by me, derived from the Get Us PPE database, the largest non-governmental database of PPE shortages in the United States.
October Shortage Index
This data was taken from two sources: Get Us PPE’s request database and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker: United States COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by State Over Time. Total cases are based on aggregate counts of COVID-19 cases reported by state and territorial jurisdictions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) since January 21, 2020, with the exception of persons repatriated to the United States from Wuhan, China, and Japan. The numbers are confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases as reported by U.S. states, U.S. territories, New York City, and the District of Columbia.
Selected Infographics
The hexagon map of the United States below shows two variables: volume of PPE requests received per state, and volume of new COVID-19 cases (new confirmed and probable cases over the course of this month according to the CDC). While we saw a high correlation between COVID-19 caseloads and the number of requests received by Get Us PPE during the month of August, we cannot assume direct causation. This map simply allows us to visualize the two variables and their relationship to one another.
Protecting Yourself and Your Patients: Wipes + Disinfectants
As COVID-19 continues to spread, eradicating every last tiny, virulent particle from your home or facility can seem an insurmountable task. No facility can be 100 percent germ-free, but taking the appropriate sanitation measures can help you protect yourself, your loved ones, and your patients by inhibiting viral transmission in enclosed spaces.
Garnered Press
PRINT & DIGITAL
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Despite Claims, Trump Rarely Uses Wartime Law in Battle Against Covid
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Grave Shortages of Protective Gear Flare Again as Covid Cases Surge
THE WASHINGTON POST
FINANCIAL TIMES
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Healthcare facilities scramble to stock up on personal protective equipment
