Proper medical protection equipment such as masks and gloves are in high demand as more people seek medical help during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to assist medical professionals, skincare company DermYoung has launched an initiative with medical spas to donate personal protection equipment (PPE) to local hospitals.
CEO of DermYoung, Yang Brooks, P.hD., and her team spearheaded this initiative after learning about the shortage of supplies among hospitals. They immediately reached out to medical spa clients across the country asking for donations, and were elated to receive more than 500 surgical and N95 respiratory masks donated.
Without proper protection, medical professionals become more susceptible to catching the virus as they help patients. “It was really heartbreaking for us to learn that many of our friends and former medical colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, and really everywhere, were managing the COVID-19 pandemic without sufficient protective gear,” said Brooks.
Brooks and her team find this mission especially dire because of how close to home it hits. Both Brooks and her partners are former and current faculty of Harvard Medical School who currently have staff on the front lines of this pandemic, and are grateful for all the donations they have received from clients.
“Our motivation to help in any way we could grew stronger when we learned that some of our friends who are on the front lines were in quarantine with possible COVID-19 symptoms,” said Brooks. “We are all in this together. At DermYoung, our customers are always at the heart of everything we do and it is so gratifying to know that we are in their hearts as well.”
After receiving such success, Brooks and her team are looking to extend this effort by encouraging medical spas outside their immediate DermYoung customer network to donate supplies to local hospitals and clinics.
The goal is to find sources of N95 respiratory masks, face shields, gloves and hand sanitizers to purchase and donate to medical institutions nationwide.
“We keep coming up with possible ways to help with our medical professionals in their fight against COVID-19,” said Brooks. “Besides medical supplies, we are currently testing how to best treat excessively washed, itchy flaky hands and the bruising left after wearing N95 for extensive hours. We will do everything in our power to protect our communities, especially the brave people who are selflessly working to end this pandemic."
To join the effort, contact Brooks at [email protected] or visit GetUsPPE.org for instructions submitted by health-care workers which include specified items needed the most and instructions on how to donate.
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