A story of a doctor who faced a shortage of supplies and procured medical supplies at a price five times the usual price by trading with a broker



With the spread of the new coronavirus, efforts to “

delay the spread of infection and prevent medical collapse ” are being continued all over the world. Under these circumstances, the shortage of supplies used by medical professionals is emerging. In fact, a movie-like experience story has been released, which summarizes the whole process of securing supplies while struggling with a doctor whose equipment worn on the scene is exhausted.

In Pursuit of PPE | NEJM
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2010025

A Tip, Subterfuge And Lots Of Money: A Mass. Hospital Executive On The 'Pursuit Of PPE' | CommonHealth
https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2020/04/19/baystate-health-protective-equipment

Since it is known that the new coronavirus is transmitted not only from the mouth and nose but also from the eyes , medical personnel must wear a mask, gloves, goggles, face when contacting a person suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus. Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as shields, gowns and caps is essential.

In response to this shortage of PPE, Apple , Ford , and others have begun to manufacture PPE, but in the United States, the situation continues to be unstoppable.


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The National Guard

One of these is Bay State Hospital in Massachusetts, USA. 'I haven't been involved in the procurement of supplies as an executive at Bay State Hospital until now, but the pandemic has changed that,' said Andrew Artenstein, MD, head of the hospital.

Bay State Hospital has been working hard to secure gowns, gloves, masks, goggles, face shields, and N95 masks 24 hours a day, but it was extremely difficult to secure supplies. Meanwhile, Mr. Artenstein, who will lead the material procurement team, can obtain a large amount of three-layer structure masks and masks made with Chinese standard KN95 from `` friends of friends of team members ''. Listen to.

The price presented by the broker was exorbitant at 5 times the normal price to Mr. Artenstein who confirmed that the mask could withstand practical use by trying on real samples and examining it for several hours. did. But it was cheaper than other brokers, so Artenstein decided to implement the purchase plan. With a machine to test the performance of the mask, I decided to visit a warehouse on the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States with three members of the team to buy it.

Concerned about transporting medical supplies across state boundaries, Artenstein's team rode two semi-trailer trucks disguised as food delivery services to a warehouse. At the time of departure, Mr. Artenstein was contacted by the other party, 'Please do not expect it because you may only get a quarter of the schedule', but a large amount of masks piled up on the scene I was overjoyed when I saw it.


by Jason Lawrence

Two FBI officials approached Mr. Artenstein, who immediately completed inspection of the mask, completed the transaction, and started loading goods. Fortunately, the FBI staff's purpose was not to crack down on transactions, but to “stop medical supplies from flowing into the black market,” so when Mr. Artenstein proved himself and was a doctor, the staff were convinced. He released Mr. Artenstein and allowed the trailer to leave.

However, just before I thought I could finally bring the mask to the hospital, Mr. Artenstein contacted me saying, 'The Department of Homeland Security is trying to move the supplies to a place other than the hospital.' It's unclear why the Department of Homeland Security was trying to steal the supplies of Artenstein and others, but Bob Oaks, the moderator of the local public radio station WBUR, who interviewed Mr. Artenstein said, `` Government stocks. Is it because of? '

Having managed to escape the seizure of supplies due to the connoisseurs of a locally elected congressman, Artenstein returned to Massachusetts in two moves to minimize the risk and bring the supplies to the hospital.

About this experience, Artenstein said, “I have been an Army doctor for 10 years, so I have had a lot of interesting experiences. Again, if our mission is not so important, It would have been a good laugh at the table, but as a leader in the healthcare system working in this rich and developed country, and my organization with cutting-edge science and technology and talent, We never dreamed that we would face this situation, and given the tight constraints associated with this pandemic, we must continue to stand around to give medical teams and patients the opportunity to compete. That's the unfortunate reality of the era of the new coronavirus. '

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