FEMA Braces For A Multi-Front War As Wildfire And Hurricane Seasons Loom
FEMA is already leading a historic response effort to the pandemic, but the overtaxed agency will also have to take the lead when the next natural disaster hits. Other preparedness news focuses on ventilators and medical equipment from China.
ABC News:
FEMA Faces Multi-Front Battle On COVID-19 As Hurricane Season Nears
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, in charge of the federal response to novel coronavirus, is now orchestrating one of the most complex response efforts in its history while also staring down a new upcoming season of wildfires and hurricanes. The unprecedented undertaking raises serious questions about whether FEMA can meet both challenges and protect Americans vulnerable to disaster. (Vann, 4/16)
ABC News:
Disaster Relief Groups Forced To Adapt During Coronavirus Pandemic
It's the beginning of tornado and flood season in the United States, and as disaster relief organizations are deployed, they're adapting and following new protocols to protect staff, volunteers and the victims of these natural disasters from the additional threat of COVID-19. Before destructive storms ripped across a wide swath of the South earlier this week, the American Red Cross was getting ready, preparing to provide shelter and prepping its staff and volunteers on the latest protocols. (Deliso, 4/17)
ProPublica:
Congress Is Investigating Whether A Ventilator Company Is Gouging The U.S. — And Why The Government Is Letting It Happen
A congressional subcommittee is investigating whether the U.S. government is paying too much for ventilators made by a Dutch company that received millions in tax dollars to develop an affordable one for pandemics, but is now charging quadruple the price under a new deal. “This all seems very fishy to me,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who chairs the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. The subcommittee falls under the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. (Callahan and Rotella, 4/16)
Kaiser Health News:
As Ventilators Become Crucial In Saving Lives, Repair Roadblocks Remain
For years, manufacturers of ventilators and other medical equipment have kept a tight grip on the ability of hospitals to service and repair those products, prompting lawsuits and under-the-table sharing of repair manuals and software passwords. Now, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for product information to keep ventilators up and running is at an all-time high. (Hawryluk, 4/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
China’s Export Restrictions Strand Medical Goods U.S. Needs To Fight Coronavirus, State Department Says
New Chinese export restrictions have left American companies’ U.S.-bound face masks, test kits and other medical equipment urgently needed to fight the coronavirus stranded, according to businesses and U.S. diplomatic memos. Large quantities of critical protective gear and other medical goods are sitting in warehouses across China unable to receive necessary official clearances, said some suppliers and brokers. (O'Keeffe, Lin and Xiao, 4/16)
