The donations included 25 much-needed medical ventilators as well as personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Sinclair College donated nearly 46,000 individual PPE items including PPE gloves, gowns, N95 and surgical masks, goggles, caps, sleeves, foot covers, PPE coveralls with feet and hazardous waste bags,” spokeswoman Deena John told the Dayton Daily News.
She added that Sinclair has also donated nine ventilators and more that 430 other medical devices or equipment including: nasal cannula oxygen equipment, suction kits, sterile extremity packs, respiratory filters, tracheostomy in-line suction, endotracheal tube in-line suction and pressurized air machines known as CPAP/BiPAP units.
Clark State Community College nursing and emergency medical services programs have donated unused personal PPE classroom supplies to Mercy Health - Springfield Regional Medical Center and Rocking Horse Center in Springfield.
The college’s Registered Nursing program was able to donate eight hospital beds to be used at an overflow hospital location if needed in Logan County. Logan County Emergency Management picked up the beds on April 1 from the Clark State location at Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.
Spokeswoman Laurie Means said Clark State plans to donate an additional $2,000 of PPE items, including “miscellaneous boxes of lab coats, boxes of gloves and any face masks and face shields that we have in stock and storage from the Medical Technology Laboratory, Anatomy and Physiology, and Microbiology program supplies.”
Jack Hershey, president and CEO of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, said the efforts of Ohio’s community colleges to help during the coronavirus crisis have been exceptional
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“Our campuses have answered Gov. DeWine’s call to provide PPE equipment and other critically needed medical supplies to those on the front lines,” Hershey said. “Many of these medical workers and first-responders have been educated on our campuses, so it is doubly gratifying that our colleges are able to support these graduates and their colleagues in this way.”
About 800 N95 masks, 1,150 breathing masks, 12,000 other masks and 223,000 pairs of regular and sterile gloves were donated, Hershey said.
Colleges also donated other health care items, including thermometers, lab coats and shoe and hair covers. Some have offered their parking lots for drive-up testing as well as the use of other campus facilities, if needed.
“In addition to donating equipment and supplies, the colleges are providing support of other kinds to their students, faculty and members of the community, including mental health support, food pantries and helping to successfully navigate remote learning environments,” Hershey said. “Many have already offered use of their facilities and video-conferencing capabilities.”
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