< PREVIOUS SLIDE SLIDE 1 of 3 NEXT SLIDE >

health-care-ppe.png

© CBS News

Medical staff wear "Halloween costumes" due to lack of proper protective gear

CBS News See more videos

SHARE

SHARE

TWEET

SHARE

EMAIL

What to watch next

• 

  Internet group mounts paintball gun on robot dog

  
  CNN
• 

  Senate moderates create obstacle for Biden's nominee

  
  CNN
• 

  US worker, employer debate Biden $15 wage proposal

  
  Associated Press
• 

  Oath Keepers leader presses for bail

  
  CNN
• 

  Biden’s Covid relief bill is extremely popular. So why do D.C. Republicans oppose it?

  
  MSNBC
• 

  GOP senator continues to push riot conspiracy theory

  
  CNN
• 

  'I will not be lectured' on bipartisanship: Lawmaker fires back at Jim Jordan

  
  CNN
• 

  Biden rushes to address computer chip shortage

  
  Reuters

• Track star sues to stop transgender athletes competing in girls sports

  
  FOX News
• 

  Republicans look to take control of the House of Representatives in 2022

  
  CBS News
• 

  Former aide: Cuomo suggested 'strip poker,' 'kissed me on the lips'

  
  FOX News
• 

  New York Democrat leads rally calling out Cuomo over nursing home deaths

  
  FOX News
• 

  Sanders: ‘There’s not one Republican who will support a $15 minimum wage’

  
  MSNBC
• 

  Tiger Woods in stable condition after serious car crash

  
  NBC News
• 

  Undocumented immigrant claims Texas storm led to poor conditions in detention center

  
  NBC News
• 

  Congressman Andy Levin on $15 minimum wage and COVID relief

  
  CBS News

Click to expand

Replay Video

• Internet group mounts paintball gun on robot dog Spot the robot dog breaks down while firing a paintball gun. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on "Spot's Rampage" against himself. CNN
• Senate moderates create obstacle for Biden's nominee CNN's Manu Raju reports on Senate moderates Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) presenting obstacles in the confirmation of President Joe Biden's nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden. CNN
• US worker, employer debate Biden $15 wage proposal A U.S. fast-food worker and a small business owner both struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic, share their views on whether it helps or hurts to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour amid an economic crisis. (February 24) Associated Press

UP NEXT

As the number of coronavirus cases climbs in the United States, health care workers are still facing shortages of personal protective equipment. One doctor said she's seen medical staff wearing plastic page protectors and "Halloween costumes" to cover their faces because of the shortages.  

"This is our pride and joy of taking care of anyone, anywhere, anytime, but the situation has become really desperate to the point where most of us have maybe, at best, 72 hours worth of equipment left in our hospitals," Dr. Gillian Schmitz, the vice president of the American College of Emergency Physicians told CBSN's Reena Ninan. "Some have already run out completely, and we're being forced to sort of improvise and make up equipment."

"I've seen people using the plastic protector sheets for their kids' homework to put in as a face mask. I've seen people even wearing ski goggles, Halloween costumes that were masks to try and cover up parts of their face," she said. 

© Provided by CBS News Schmitz added that there's not "a whole lot of good evidence" that wearing these alternatives is safe. For example, she said, the "droplet mask" she has is not enough to protect her from patients with coronavirus. 

"It's a thin mask. If someone coughs in my face, I don't get wet, but this is not enough," she said. "It's simply a shield. It doesn't have the level of protection that we need."

Schmitz compared the situation for medical staff to going to war without armor and ammunition.

"This wouldn't be acceptable in any other field. If we were going to war, we would send people in with, you know, guns and shields and ammunition to help them win this fight," she said.