Nursing School Donates Masks to Fight COVID-19

The College of Coastal Georgia’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) to help in the fight against COVID-19. The donations comprised 350 loop masks, 150 face-shield surgical masks, and a ventilator. Equipment and supplies once designated to educate future healthcare professionals in a simulated hospital will now be used in real hospitals to save lives, protects nurses, physicians, and other medical care providers.

The donation was a collaboration between the nursing department and Campus Police. The University System of Georgia received a request from GEMA asking for its institutions to list available supplies that can donated in case they were needed. Campus Police Chief Bryan Sipe, who also serves as the emergency operations coordinator for the College, received the request and contacted Dr. Lydia Watkins, Southeast Georgia Health System Distinguished Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences. The request came at the perfect time as Watkins had asked Simulation Lab Assistant Jeff Garrett to do an inventory of the school’s supplies before she learned of the request.

“It’s ironic because, earlier that morning, I texted my lab assistant, Jeff Garrett, and asked him to inventory our PPE and other supplies that we may have and could donate,” Watkins said. “I also asked him to inventory our lab bed space in case the hospital needed overflow.”

Within an hour of being notified on March 20 the items were packed and ready to be shipped; the donation was picked up on Friday, March 27.

Watkins commended Garrett for working together with Sipe in preparing the items for transport. Garrett started working at the College in August 2019. His duties include setting up labs for students, keeping inventory of supplies and ordering stock; assisting the lab coordinator with simulations as necessary; and even being a role player in nursing exercises. Garrett has a background in nursing. He retired from the Army in 2011 as a licensed practical nurse and was an instructor for the Army’s LPN program the last three years of his service.

“I feel it is important to support those who are treating patients in order to keep them safe and ensure that they have the equipment and supplies needed to do so,” Garrett said. “With the nursing shortages we were experiencing prior to this crisis, we should do all we can to keep those we have healthy and able to continue working.”

For Sipe, this was another opportunity to better community relationships and serve citizens outside of traditional law enforcement duties.

“This is a great example of how our department and institution continually support the broader regional public safety efforts. Working with Dr. Watkins and Jeff Garrett could not have been any easier. They were quickly able to compile a list of everything they have in their inventory that GEMA requested,” Sipe said.

All those involved felt it was important to work together and support those in need. It’s in a nurse’s blood to help however she or he can, Watkins said, and the donations are just one way to help. What the College has donated may seem small compared to the needs across the globe but combined with similar donations from other institutions in the University System of Georgia and businesses, the supplies will be a significant help during the crisis.

Watkins urges everyone who knows someone working in a hospital environment during this time to send words of encouragement as they face exhaustion, long shifts, caring for patients, and isolation from family.

“Many of our nursing and radiologic sciences students are working in our hospitals during this time and are working in the COVID-19 units. As you see videos from and pictures of nurses and physicians on the news and in social media, remember that there are many of our own alumni out there working countless hours, risking their safety, following their oath to help heal others,” Watkins said. “When I ask students why they chose the path of nursing, radiologic sciences, or other healthcare careers, most of them say ‘to help others.’ Well I think they are definitely doing that. This year, 2020, was designated the ‘Year of the Nurse’ by the World Health Organization—no better timing for that designation.”