Personal Protective Equipment

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is typically provided for healthcare professionals to protect themselves from viruses, illness, and disease while treating their patients. However, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other public health professionals have also advised the public to wear some measure of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic--particularly a mask. The supply of face masks in hospitals and stores has diminished. Businesses and the public have resorted to making their own fabric masks in order to preserve the supply of PPE for healthcare workers.

Many Milwaukee hospitals have shared PPE standards with their employees to ensure that all people within the hospital are protected from the coronavirus. Scott Jenquin, an X-Ray Technician at Ascension Hospital, has shared documents related to PPE standards and procedures that all healthcare workers should follow. Businesses have taken the time of shutdown to produce face masks for people to buy and protect themselves and others. For example, Michelle Buckhanan, owner of Yarn Junkie and Gifts, has started designed and producing homemade facemasks to help people in need of PPE and to stimulate her business. Universities, like UW-Milwaukee, and other organizations have donated PPE to local hospitals to ensure that the front-line workers supplies do not diminish. Art pieces have made their mark in the Milwaukee community that have featured their subjects wearing face masks, such as pieces in Black Cat Alley and the “Three Stooges” in front of Lakefront Brewery. PPE, especially face masks, have made their way into the everyday experience. People have made a habit of wearing face masks when they grocery shop, go on walks, and when they interact with loved ones from a distance. The public’s habit of wearing face masks has become a “New Normal.”