AHN And Highmark Health Holding Drive-Up Events To Hand Out PPE
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Box after box loaded up in one EMS truck after another, filled with supplies needed to do the job safely.
"The virus is still around, so, I mean, you never know where it's going to be. We need to protect ourselves as much as we can," said Shane Dohmen with the Armstrong County Department of Public Safety.
This is why Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health teamed up to make this drive-up event at AHN's McCandless Neighborhood Hospital possible.
"We want to make sure that we stay vigilant. It's still a threat and EMS providers have tools and the equipment they need to protect themselves, their patients and their families," Vice President of Pre-Hospital Care Services for Allegheny Health Network Robert Twaddle said.
There's a lot of supplies in these boxes.
For this drive alone, AHN and Highmark Health donated over 30,000 KN95 masks, 50,000 surgical masks, 30,000 face shields and 17,000 surgical gowns.
Twenty-eight EMS agencies stopped by, including Steve Strobel from Lawrence County.
"This stuff is expensive. We have a lot of agencies with fire departments and ambulances," said Lawrence County EMA Deputy Director Chad Strobel.
A lot of agencies mean a lot of people and a lot of planning for the future.
"I think the pandemic is going to change the way we approach patients. That we are probably going to be more aggressive in our PPE than we have been in the past," said Administrator with the McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority Steve McKinniss.
AHN and Highmark Health are holding these drive-up events at all four of their neighborhood hospitals.
The final two are scheduled for next week. When it's over, more than 90 EMS agencies in Western Pennsylvania will receive the gear that they need.
