With cases of the novel coronavirus on the rise in the St. Louis region, Washington University in St. Louis is anticipating shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) — such as masks, gowns, gloves and eyewear — at university-affiliated hospitals and clinics. As work is reduced in university laboratories, medical students are asking researchers to collect extra PPE from their labs to be donated to frontline health-care workers.

Needed items include:

• Eye protection, including face shields and goggles (glasses are not effective)
• N-95 respirator masks
• Masks
• Gloves
• Gowns

Opened cases or other containers are acceptable but NOT used items.

Items to be donated should be labeled clearly and left in lab spaces. Staff members from the university’s office of Environmental Health & Safety will collect the donated items starting Monday, March 23.

Researchers can follow this link and fill out the form with the location of the lab and the items being donated: https://veoci.com/veoci/p/form/6heghcf6kyte#tab=entryForm

“We offer tremendous thanks to the Washington University community for their generosity and support for our doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who are on the front lines taking care of patients at this difficult and unprecedented time,” said Jennifer K. Lodge, PhD, the university’s vice chancellor for research and associate dean for research at the School of Medicine. “We also are extremely grateful to our medical students, who are spearheading this PPE collection effort.”

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