Hi everyone! Something a little different from me today but no less important. As many of you know, I’m a Scottish blogger, currently also residing in Scotland. As you are ALL no doubt aware too, there is currently a global pandemic that we are living through, right now. This is history. In years to come the experiences of our generations and societies will be discussed and analysed. This is why I am making an appeal to you today.
One of my wonderful friends and her family have set up a fundraising (crowdfunding) to raise money to help towards providing those within NHS Scotland (National Health Service) with the necessary and appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to do their jobs safely. That’s all this is about. Allowing those who have trained and worked tirelessly to look after other human being in their hardest of times, safely. So that they can too, hopefully, not contract this fatal virus and keep doing what they love and want to do, helping others. There is currently an international shortage of PPE, as is heavily documented on the media and news channels. There are many reasons for this, some out of our control (lack of distribution and manufacturing centres, for example) but there is an area where WE, old plain Janes and Joes, can do something to help. Raising money to assist the manufacturing and distribution of these masks, gowns, gloves, visors.
I know this is a time where individuals are feeling concerned, and scared, of what is to come. I know that friends and family’s welfare, along with your own, is at the front of your minds. I also know that is medical practitioners do not have PPE, they are being put at risk and potentially will not be there to help your loved ones when they need it most. If you have anything to spare, 50pence £1, £5-£50, please donate. This is a way that you can help from the comfort and safety of your home. Thank you. X
See below for more info from the Masks for Scotland fundraiser themselves:
Scotland is in urgent need of additional masks and gowns (PPE) to protect GP’s, Community Nurses, Ambulance staff, Social Workers and Carers. The current reserves of equipment in Scotland are already being utilised by hospital staff, but there is a very real shortage in the community.
Masks For Scotland aims to raise £200,000 which will be enough to supply 12,000 masks and 12,000 gowns.
- PPE means Personal Protective Equipment – Masks, Gloves and Gowns
- There is not enough PPE here in Scotland for medical staff
- We have a reputable supplier of gowns and masks which meet the standards required for NHS and offer the highest level of protection. This is what our staff deserve.
- This is an urgent appeal. The peak of coronavirus is predicted to hit over the next two weeks. In the meantime our heroes are treating patients who are contagious but not showing symptoms.
Quite rightly, the limited amount of PPE in Scotland is prioritised for staff working in Intensive Care, BUT this leaves many community staff, such as GPs, Community Nurses, Ambulance Staff, Carers and Social Workers, less well protected, even though they are the ones coming into our homes to assist us if we are too unwell to get to a hospital.
– we are already seeing the deaths of doctors and nurses here in the UK
– 23% of ICU patients in Italy were medical staff who contracted Covid-19 while doing their job
– This can be avoided. We need every medical professional to stay fit and healthy to help keep YOU fit and healthy.
– Please help us protect them.
Your Contribution
£15 buys a gown and a mask
£100 protects 6 medical staff a day.
We really, really need your help to buy PPE equipment for our medical teams. Your donation will save lives. Not just those of the medical staff but of their families and the patients they treat.
Whatever you can give, nothing is too small and 100% of money donated goes directly to getting the necessary PPE to our invaluable community frontline staff.
Thank you
Twitter @masks4scotland #masksforscotland
Instagram @masksforscotland
Facebook @masksforscotland
Contacts
General Enquiries: masksforscotland@gmail.com
If your site needs PPE contact: requests.masksforscotland@gmail.com
Spearheaded by
Jill Belch, FRCP, MD, OBE, FR(E), FAMedSci.
Jill Belch is a Professor of Vascular Medicine at the University of Dundee, in Scotland, where until January 2016 she was the Research Dean then Co-Dean of the Medical School. She was also NHS Tayside R&D Director for 10 years also to 2016. Further she established and became Co-Director of the Tayside Academic Health Partnership. She is a founder Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science and a Fellow and Council Member of the Royal Society, Edinburgh. She is currently Head of the Institute of Cardiovascular Research. Professor Belch is Chair or former Chair of trial steering committees for 17 international multicentre clinical trials of new treatments for vascular disease, and she has authored over 400 publications in peer-reviewed journals. She is Immediate Past President of the UK Section of Vascular Medicine at the Royal Society of Medicine, and is currently President of the European Society for Vascular Medicine (ESVM), for whom she also chairs the ESVM Guidelines Committee. She was awarded an OBE in 2016 for Services to Medicine, and became the Saltire Outstanding Woman of the Year in 2019.
belle in pages 