PETALING JAYA: St Johns Ambulance of Malaysia (SJAM) is stretched to its limits in its fight against Covid-19, along with other frontliners. However, this is not stopping it from ramping up efforts to secure personal protective equipment (PPE), blood donations and other aid needed for medical services to continue their operations.
SJAM secretary-general Hoo We Tak said a lack of manpower has become an issue.
“We have had to split up our teams to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infections,” he told theSun yesterday.
“Some of our centres have also been forced to cease operations due to a shortage of staff and resources. We have also had staff put under quarantine after transferring a patient who was later found to be Covid-19 positive.”
Hoo said many government hospitals and clinics are facing shortages of PPE, especially face shields,.
Local companies are also struggling to cope with the demand, prompting SJAM to start a campaign to make do-it-yourself (DIY) face shields for frontliners.
“The materials used are mainly donated by or purchased from stationery shops,” he said. “With the help of many Malaysians, some of our establishments are producing thousands of DIY face shields within two to three days.”
Hoo encouraged the public to take part in the making of DIY face shields. “We place the materials at a location where volunteers can pick up. Video instructions are made available on our Facebook page,” he said.
Other than face shields, SJAM is also making isolation gowns, intubation boxes and head covers.
“We have delivered these PPEs to 173 hospitals, polyclinics, security forces and government agencies across the nation.”
SJAM will partner various sponsors to hold an online concert via Facebook live to raise funds from today to Sunday. Details are on www.facebook.com/sjamalaysia/.
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