Not All Heroes Wear Capes, But Most Of Them Need Masks

New Mexican Healthcare Workers Vulnerable Amid Ppe Shortages

\ Apr 16, 2020

3 min read

It’s not all toilet paper and games anymore. In recent apocalyptic happenings, your dad, the hobbyist carpenter, probably has more masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) in his garage than the hospital and essential workers trying to save us from certain doom.

The equipment is proving difficult to find, because non-essential folks are–yet again–hoarding things for personal use and not leaving enough for healthcare workers to purchase. Imagine that! Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham says getting more PPE into the country is enough of a task, let alone preventing people from buying it all up before it makes it into the hands of those who need it most.

“Please don’t buy surgical masks and N95 masks. We want to create a vehicle where your state, your hospitals, and your providers have access to these,” Lujan Grisham said.

Various hospitals and health groups around the city are now putting out pleas for the community to donate any PPE they may have (some tattoo studios and dentists have gone above and beyond already in doing this) and for local groups to create homemade cloth masks for them.

If you have any legitimate medical PPE, please consider donating that to healthcare workers first, because most hospitals are not allowed to request any non-medical grade gear. But if you are crafty and want to be of service in a huge way, go to Facebook and search for mask-making groups. I personally like #MasksNOW New Mexico and MaskCoversDriveNM 2020. They have tons of resources, video tutorials, and local support for your new favorite hobby!

MaskCoversDriveNM 2020 says 75 percent of their efforts are focused toward the Albuquerque Emergency Operations Center, which is tasked with getting the PPE to first responders and key essential city employees. Below is a list of medical and essential facilities who have either asked the public for donations or have reached out to #MasksNOW New Mexico or MaskCoversDriveNM 2020 for help.