COVID 19: Situation, Action, and Tracking of PPE Demand in the U.S.

Authors

  • Shaghayegh Rezaei Arangdad North Carolina State University
  • Blan Godfrey NC State Wilson College of Textiles
  • S M Azizul Hoque NC State University Wilson College of Textiles
  • Parth Joshi NC State University
  • Ajay Prasath Manoharan NC State University
  • Aditya Vhanmane NC State University

Abstract

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, healthcare systems across the United States have experienced severe shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This equipment is critical for the proper protection of healthcare workers while they perform patient care for COVID-19 patients. Identifying the need for PPE for doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers was a major challenge in the United States. The aim of this research is to understand how the need for PPE was tracked in the US and comparing these methods with approaches in other countries with far better outcomes. This paper is intended to provide an in-depth understanding of how in the absence of leadership from the Federal Government, non-profit organizations, universities, and others created working systems for tracking COVID-19 patients and estimating PPE needs. The first and most critical needs for PPE were for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in hospitals and other healthcare organizations such as extended-care facilities caring for infected patients. Immediately it became clear that PPE shortages for first responders, other essential workers, and members of the public were also hampering the control of the virus. The main contribution of this paper is a recommendation for the US that includes PPE prediction models to have a better understanding of PPE needs and requirements.

Author Biographies

  • Blan Godfrey, NC State Wilson College of Textiles
    Professor
  • S M Azizul Hoque, NC State University Wilson College of Textiles
    Ph.D. Graduate Student
  • Parth Joshi, NC State University
    ISE
  • Ajay Prasath Manoharan, NC State University
    ISE
  • Aditya Vhanmane, NC State University
    ISE

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Published

2021-08-31

Issue

Special Issue: Emerging Issues in Management and Marketing for Textiles and Apparel - Part 2

Section

Scholarly Articles

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