At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, one surprising challenge was the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) supplies. Health professionals put themselves in a quandary by initially recommending against the use of face masks to ensure that medical professionals had the equipment they needed to safely treat patients.

Even though some aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic have stabilized, it’s common for shortages or changes in demand to impact PPE supplies. Here are a couple of things that are continuing to affect the availability of PPE supplies and what you can do to ensure you have adequate personal protective equipment.

Pandemic-Related Quarantines Impact Manufacturing and Supplies

Many PPE supplies are produced in other countries. If production decreases due to pandemic quarantines or bottlenecks within the production process lower output or prolong delivery times, this means that there is less inventory to go around.

Also, if the country producing the PPE decides to keep more of their PPE supplies for their own needs, this can impact our inventory, especially if we don’t have domestic manufacturing plants that are capable of quickly producing personal protective equipment.

It Isn’t Always Clear What PPE Supplies Are Actually Effective

For obvious reasons, medical professionals have occasionally worn more protective equipment than necessary to remain safe, even if the data was dubious as to whether the personal protective equipment kept them from getting sick.

This led to demand increases that rendered the inventory levels insufficient for adequately supplying medical facilities with the PPE supplies that they needed.

How to Combat PPE Shortages

EMS providers need to maintain a sufficient stockpile of PPE supplies at all times. Keep an eye on factors that might drive shortages or increase demand, and order additional supplies well in advance.

At Coast Biomedical Equipment, we encourage EMS providers to prepare for seasonal fluctuations in the demand for PPE supplies and purchase your inventory ahead of time. Visit us online today to order your EMS supplies.