PPE & Safety Supply Drive for Covid Responders & New Hot Spots

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Safety & Prevention Initiatives + Philanthropic Support for the Front Lines: Meet the Advocacy for Professional Safety (NYC) 

July 25, 2020- Diagnostic Science Director of the First Responders Health Resource Dr. Robert L. Bard and medical publisher Lennard M. Gettz officially launched "The Advocacy for Professional Safety" (APS)- a volunteer backed Coronavirus prevention support project for the health care community. APS’ public educational mission promotes all current safety measures for patients and professional caregivers in healthcare facilities. APS also conducts a major humanitarian drive to collect and bring donated PPE to Covid front lines in the U.S.

APS is comprised of volunteer physicians, educators, writers and other professional care-givers who publish all safety protocols to keep viral transmission and contamination down in patient care areas.  APS launched its “Suggested Safety Guidelines in Patient Care Facilities” program in March of this year (at the height of NYC’s pandemic cases).  This project was directed toward the many local practices and hospitals due to their cluster of immuno-compromised and potentially contaminated traffic. Social media greatly aided in APS wide support from physicians in the northeast as they underwent their state re-opening from the Coronavirus shut-down.

SUPPORTING THE FRONT LINES
Their Safety Guidelines to medical offices expanded to educational videos and webinars to health groups about in-office safety. APS also acquired PREVENTION101.ORG, a health publication featuring current technologies, treatment updates, standardized safety initiatives and new trends in medical diagnostics. “I’ve always felt that there are many areas in patient care that could use an upgrade... this pandemic made us re-evaluate (just about) every part of our work process for better safety, risk prevention and cost efficiency. From modern air disinfecting innovations like the use of UV-C light, to TeleMedicine to portable hand-held ultrasound devices ... it's all about saving lives!"- says Dr. Bard.

Recognizing the current increase in U.S. figures of 4.6M cases and 155K+ deaths, the APS initiatives continue their public safety drive and uniting with healthcare providers to instill vigilance in prevention measures.  Medical professionals began adapting APS' suggested safety guidelines, and many joined to collaborate and share their safety measures to include in the list of “sensible prevention measures”.  The core is based on early postings by the CDC, NIOSH and NIST in pursuit of restoring public confidence in patient care- reducing/removing the risk of infection. “... this pandemic has awakened many changes in the way we do just about anything, and thinking SAFETY is a big part of that!", states Dr. Stephen Chagares, Breast Cancer Surgeon (NJ). "Meanwhile, I’m equally proud of supporting our health responders in the growing hot spots across the country… with our PPE drive.  This is making great use of social media and our many friends in the safety industry!”
Months into the pandemic, the APS Alliance expanded to include all safety resources like Covid-19 testing labs, sanitizing product manufacturers and medical suppliers including one of its’ first PPE supply partners, Jayson Dauphinee, president of the American Health Supply Co. who regularly donated a significant portion of their inventory of respirator masks and surgical gowns to  Covid treatment units in New York, and (now) other new hot-spots of the US.  Dr. Bard mirrors this philanthropic footprint by leading a PPE donation drive by partnering with other domestic distributors and safety equipment manufacturers, aligning target hospitals in the hardest hit states.

In response to the recent hot spots in 12+ states like Florida, Arizona and Texas, APS shares all useful and encouraging information including current press briefings by Governor Andrew Cuomo about the status of NYS’ continued drop in recent cases and mortality rates. "We are inspired by the many dedicated leaders whose commendable tracking and enforcing of New York's case control have helped bring us away from being the epicenter – and keeping us that way with prevention! We hope to share this level of self-leadership with everyone as a key to surviving this virus," says Cheri Ambrose, Male Breast Cancer Coalition.

THE JUNE SPIKE OF HOUSTON 
According to the Texas Medical Center data, COVID-19 cases escalated from 267 in week 10 (5/31) to 962 in week 13 (6/21). Dr. Joseph Varon, Chief of Clinical Care at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, TX.  Works at the Covid Unit of one of America's latest CoronaVirus epicenters. "I've had the worst 48 hours of the last 84 days. I have received more patients over the last two weeks than in the last 10 weeks [totaled]. As the state opened up, people get crazy‐‐ this includes Memorial Day weekend and last week's protest and mass gatherings. Out of all this, my ward is getting a flood of patients. I have tested more than 55,000 people for Covid in the Houston metropolitan area‐‐ and out of those 55,000, 10.5% are Covid positive. And these numbers in Texas are still going up." Dr Varon’s unit is just one of many hospitals in the U.S. who are close to (or currently) at capacity with patients as New York was during the early months of 2020. APS’ supply drive aims to send his hospital their first delivery of donations.

For complete information on the Advocacy for Professional Safety, visit: www.Prevention101.org. Media contact: editor.prevention101@gmail.com / Grace Davi- 631.920.5757