LENEXA, KANSAS (April 17, 2020) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 announced that it has transferred almost 8,000 pieces of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This PPE includes gloves, protective suits, boot and shoe covers, protective glasses, and face-shields used to protect first responders and medical personnel exposed to COVID-19. Supplies include:
- 297 boot covers
- 7,300 gloves
- 232 protective suits
- 80 safety glasses
EPA maintains a range of PPE for mission-critical work such as responding to emergencies, including chemical, oil, radiological, and biological incidents.
“EPA is working hard to support our nation’s first-responders as they risk their own safety to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After searching our inventory of personal protective equipment, we identified excess supplies and sent them to those on the front lines of this fight. At EPA, we are here to help in any way we can and I encourage everyone else to do the same.”
“The EPA Region 7 team wants our health care workers and others on the front line to know just how much we value their sacrifices,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Jim Gulliford. “This pandemic affects every single American, and the fight won’t be won by a single decisive action but by a million small efforts made by each of us.”
EPA maintains a supply of PPE as part of the Agency’s laboratory, inspection, and emergency response functions. EPA also provides additional response assistance when state and local first responder capabilities have been exhausted or when additional support is requested.
EPA is currently developing an Agency-wide plan for rapid distribution of available PPE to state and local governments that are working COVID-19 operations.
For information about EPA’s involvement with the COVID-19 response, please visit: www.epa.gov/coronavirus.
