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.
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Children, Youth, and Families Department4501 Indian School Rd NEAlbuquerque, NM 87110Phone: (505) 660-8764Gallup Indian Medical CenterP.O. Box 1337Gallup, NM 87301Phone: (505) 722-1000Lovelace Health System4101 Indian School Road Northeast, Suite 110Albuquerque, NM 87110Northern Navajo Medical CenterP.O. Box 160 Shiprock, NM 87420(505) 368-6001Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services2111 College Dr.Gallup, NM 87301(505) 863-1820UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center Call (505) 994-7400 and leave a detailed message.