Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing sends over 15,000 items of PPE to support front line workers
Ryerson’s Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing has donated 14,230 pairs of gloves, 860 N95 masks, 170 disposable isolation gowns, 112 hand sanitizer refills, 60 boxes of alcohol wipes, and 20 bottles of antibacterial soap to support front line health-care workers battling COVID-19.
Susana Neves-Silva, lab and placement manager, and Nancy Walston, associate professor and director of the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, helped co-ordinate donating the supplies to St. Michael’s Hospital and Scarborough Health Network earlier this week.
“In many ways, being nurses and educators, our staff and faculty feel that we can’t do as much as we’d like to, for our nursing colleagues, for our students and former students who are out there, working on the front lines and providing care to patients, families and communities in such a challenging time,” said Walston.
However, the nursing school is not the first at Ryerson to help health-care professionals. Last week, the Faculty of Science donated 73,000 gloves, 100 goggles and other medical supplies to local hospitals.
These donations came after health-care workers’ requests for more face masks and other protective gear.
The increase in cases of novel coronavirus are causing a shortage of personal protective equipment across Canada and around the world.
U.S. officials recently agreed to release N95 respirator masks to Canada and Latin America as pressure on the government to provide more protective equipment continues to grow.
But Premier Doug Ford is not solely relying on them.
The first stock of ASTM Level 3 masks, created by The Woodbridge Group and INOAC Corp. are being sent out this week.
“This is what the workshop of Canada looks like. Once we get Ontario’s manufacturing powerhouse going it’s a machine that can’t be stopped,” said Ford, according to CBC.