U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has identified approximately 225,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to support the COVID-19 response.
“EPA is working hard to support our nation’s first responders as they risk their own safety to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic,†said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After searching our inventory of personal protective equipment, we identified excess supplies and sent them to those on the frontlines of this fight. At EPA we are here to help in any way we can and I encourage everyone else to do the same.â€
Over the coming days, EPA will develop a plan for rapid distribution of available personal protective equipment to FEMA or state and local governments in need, that are working COVID-19 operations. Among the items are protective disposable gloves, and full-body protective cover-all suits.
EPA maintains a supply of personal protective equipment as part of the Agency’s emergency response functions, such as responding to chemical, oil, radiological, biological and hazardous incidents. EPA also provides additional response assistance when state and local first responder capabilities have been exhausted or when additional support is requested. The Agency identified the excess personal protective equipment after assessing how much equipment would be needed to support EPA’s essential functions. EPA will donate excess equipment while still maintaining its emergency response readiness.
For information about EPA’s involvement with the COVID-19 response, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus.
