VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — We all keep hearing the acronym, PPE. It’s a medical buzzword that stands for "personal protective equipment."
The City of Virginia Beach continues to use the fire department's warehouse to store dozens of boxes filled with those medical supplies. PPE is being handed out to first responders and essential employees through the pandemic.
Fire Battalion Chief Chris Ludford said it's much needed for the work they do.
“It’s pretty important. We always asses the risk going into these calls. We have done that for years, that is the basis of our job is risk assessment, but we are doing so even more now,” Ludford explained.
Ludford said all city departments are sharing equipment and supplies. Ludford said the city has enough PPE supplies to last for the foreseeable future.
“To tell you exactly how long, I can’t be too specific about that right now,” he said. “We got hand sanitizer; we’ve got surgical masks. We’ve got N95 masks.”
Ludford told 13News Now that suppliers are starting back up again, but the federal government is redirecting some of those supplies to higher priority areas. That might make new shipments difficult for the city to acquire.
“We are currently meeting the needs of first responders and we are also trying to help the needs of other departments in the city,” Ludford said.
Ludford said crews are using what they have wisely. Departments can come pick up supplies at the warehouse when they are running low.
“We are just going to keep working the best we can,” said Ludford. “The responders, the employees are doing a good job of preserving. The city is doing a good job of maintaining services but eliminating some non-essential services.”
How do officials allocate who needs personal protective equipment the most?
“Everything has a risk and certain folks have a higher risk - fire, EMS and police," Ludford answered. "That’s not to say we don’t value the folks in human services.”
Even taking into account their current supplies, there is a need for more PPE. Ludford said some local businesses have donated supplies, and that’s a huge help.
“Coastal dentistry made a great donation. They partnered with some other dentists and made a donation. Sherwin Williams made a donation of gloves,” he said.
If you have PPE equipment you would like to donate, click here.