Friday, May 22, 2020

Corona Virus Update 5/22

We are 76 days since our first confirmed case of Covid in Connecticut. 

3637 people have died, 55 today. 

740 are hospitalized, down 76. 

Obtaining PPE for members is union work

After a nail-biting five weeks in transit, close to $3 million in personal protective equipment arrived safely in New York City, and the AFT, which purchased the urgently needed gear, has begun distributing it to frontline healthcare and public safety members across the country. Darlene Williams, a leader with the New York State Public Employees Federation and a state occupational therapist, is helping deliver the PPE to our members in hospitals and residential facilities. Watch this moving video as she first sees the delivery.

We are expecting a shipment next week.



To bolster your efforts to organize and engage members—especially to build our collective power as we fight to safely reopen our communities and to win the 2020 election—we are offering a collection of FREE materials.
AFT members are always heroes to me, but they have been extraordinary in this coronavirus pandemic: from the nurses, respiratory therapists and other healthcare members who are caring for patients with COVID-19, to the public employees mobilizing to scale up virus testing, to the teachers and faculty who turned on a dime to go from in-person to remote learning, to the school staff who are cooking and distributing thousands of meals each day.
These free resources are intended to help you as part of the union’s drive to make a difference in your work and your life. Our union has been built for this moment. As we face unprecedented challenges to our health, safety and economic security, more and more people are seeing the true value of the union movement. It is the vehicle we can use to ensure our voice is heard and, with that, ensure a stronger democracy and a better life for all. How? These free materials show how AFT members and leaders are making a difference with their caring and activism.
This crisis has laid bare the inequities in our country and highlighted the disastrous consequences of cuts to the nation’s public health infrastructure. Think about it: the lack of paid sick leave for all workers, the prevalence of food insecurity, the gaping digital divide, and the unconscionable number of Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. Before the pandemic, 40 percent of Americans couldn’t put $400 together in an emergency, and by mid-May 39 percent of Americans who make less than $40,000 had lost work.
We will need bold steps, through government action focused on the needs of working people, to repair the harm to people’s health, the economy and our democracy. This gets to the heart of who we are as a union: We care, we fight, we show up and we vote. I have never been more proud of our members and of you, our leaders. Together, we will get through this.
For now, all you have to do is order your materials so they'll be ready when it’s time to start planning and get your activities going. Materials will begin shipping in June. Given that COVID-19 has affected the logistics of production and shipping, you may encounter delays. We thank you in advance for your patience.
This year's materials include:
  • AFT pocket calendars (2020-2021 Educators, 2021 Nurses and Health Professionals, and 2021 Public Employees);
  • AFT+ Member Benefits brochures;
  • Brochures to help you organize; and
  • Brochures highlighting AFT programs and resources, including stories of our members who are meeting the needs of patients, students and communities throughout the pandemic.
We will also send a set of materials to help you engage with your members around the union’s response to the pandemic and the 2020 election.

Orders must be places by June 12. Contact me for help. 
Also, check out our comprehensive set of digital resources—including flexible, practical strategies to safely reopen in ways that make sense for each unique community. Visit www.aft.org/coronavirus today!
If you have questions, please email aftmaterials@aft.org.


In unity,

Randi Weingarten
AFT President


FDA Complaints to FDA on decontaminated respirators (long)-

The Food and Drug Administration has approved emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to six companies on decontamination of N95 or similar respirators.  We do not believe this is the right approach to address the emergency shortage of single use N95s.  We have already had troubling reports of malfunctioning decontaminated respirators.

FDA needs to hear from workers and their unions if decontaminated respirators fail to perform or fit compared to first use. For instance, if straps and nose clips deteriorate or if the wearer cannot easily perform a seal check, a complaint is warranted. In addition, a FDA should hear about any decontaminated respirators that cause adverse reactions, or about any concerns or indications that the employer is not implementing the decontamination system as approved by the FDA.  We encourage local leaders and members to submit complaints to FDA on adverse reactions and improper decontamination. 

If healthcare workers experience adverse reactions or get infected with COVID-19 while using decontaminated respirators, FDA expects that employers will report this to the company and the company will report this to FDA.  FDA also has an online reporting tool for healthcare providers, but it is intended for patient safety, not worker safety. [1]  

We are pushing the agency to create a direct way for healthcare workers to report problems with decontaminated respirators in writing, but in the meantime, we encourage you and members to file a complaint. Members or unions can also use an FDA phone number and fax number to report adverse reactions.[2]   A template for writing a complaint to FDA is part of this document.  We encourage you to use this as a checklist for your complaint.  FDA guarantees workers confidentiality for complaints.

Although the FDA has only approved decontamination of respirators during the pandemic, we are concerned that employers and the companies want to make the EUAs permanent.  N95s and similar respirators are single use devices that were never designed to be decontaminated or reused.  FDA needs data from workers on COVID-19 conversions, headaches, etc. so that workers’ needs are considered. 

In addition, testing of decontaminated respirators was done under lab conditions, not on N95s that real healthcare workers had to wear for an entire shift or multiple days.  The FDA did not anticipate that some employers would require healthcare workers to use decontaminated respirators for entire shifts or days on end.

FDA is essentially using healthcare workers as test subjects who have not given consent.  And the agency is doing little to ensure employers are implementing the decontamination procedures as approved.  Separately, OSHA has said that decontaminated respirators are allowable as a crisis capacity strategy, even though decontamination voids the NIOSH certification.[3]  OSHA will allow any method of decontamination approved by NIOSH regardless of whether FDA has issued an EUA for the method. [4]   We are pushing the three agencies to coordinate and to make clear to hospitals what is allowable and what is not.  Some employers are using whatever equipment they already have on hand to “decontaminate” respirators without any scientific basis. 

What you should know about the FDA emergency use authorizations All six of the EUAs to date (more may be announced) use vaporous hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate N95 and equivalent respirators.  Respirators containing cellulose are not compatible.  The FDA issued letters and instructions linked below.  The companies must provide these instructions to healthcare workers and to the facility. The instructions include instructions on proper procedures, such as ensuring the chain of custody and how many cycles are approved for that system.  Healthcare workers are instructed to use permanent markers to mark the respirators with their name or facility and the number of uses.

Battelle - Battelle is the most common system, as the institution has received a FEMA contract and is operating decon systems in all the states.  Facilities collect the used respirators and ship to a Battelle operations facility. If you know of a hospital that claims to have purchased the Battelle system and is operating it onsite, please let us know.  

Healthcare workers are instructed to use a permanent marker to write a site code and unit code on the respirator to identify the facility and the unit. We have heard that some facilities are making the effort to return the N95s to the individual healthcare worker, but FDA is not requiring that for Battelle.  Unlike all of the other companies, Battelle does not warn that decontaminated respirators are not sterile.

Vaporous hydrogen peroxide, 20 decon cycles, respirator must go back to the same facility, but does not have to go back to the same user


We have provided a sample complaint letter (attached) for your use. We recommend that you mail or fax the letter to the FDA and ask that you provide a copy to AFT Health Issues.  We have had calls with the FDA and will continue to press them for better oversight, as well as withdrawal of any EUA for any dangerous processes. In addition, you may wish to send a copy of the letter to your state department of health.

Thank you for all you do. Have a safe and great holiday weekend!

In Solidarity,

Kelly

Kelly D. Trautner
Director | Health Issues
(Pronouns: she/hers)
T: 202-393-7991 |  F: 202-783-2014 |  E: ktrautne@aft.org


If you’d like anything that is listed as an attachment please let me know and I’ll get that to you. 
Be Well,
John


As a reminder, counseling is available to our members through this link. 
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