Struggle To Obtain PPE Defines Behind-The-Scenes Effort To Open Fort Lauderdale Testing Site
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – When Fort Lauderdale city leaders decided to open a COVID-19 testing site at Holiday Park they faced an immediate challenge — how to get personal protective equipment or PPE for medical workers running the tests.
"There were days when we thought we were just not gonna get it," said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis.
Trantalis said the efforts behind the scenes of setting up the testing site, which opened Thursday, reveal the competition across the country to get PPE, the impediments to the effort and ultimately the determination of city leaders to find a solution to the problem.
One of the first steps the city took when it wanted to open the testing site was reach out to the Office of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trantalis said they were a big help, but not with PPE.
"I have to say, 'Thank God for the Governor's Office,'" he said. "They were able to provide the National Guard. They provided the test kits. They said, '"Now you have to get the PPE.'"
And getting the PPE turned into a struggle.
"The supply of PPE is being restricted," Trantalis said. "People were trying to import it from other countries and it was being stopped at the border. The federal government was actually confiscating it to disperse through their own mechanisms and their own priorities."
Fort Lauderdale has plenty of masks, the mayor said, but they needed gowns and specific gloves for the testing.
"Gowns are very, very difficult to get," he said.
Trantalis said there were politics involved with trying to get it that impeded the effort and he said some people did not want to help the city's effort.
"People lost sight of what we're trying to do, which is to protect the health and safety of our community," he said.
Finally, the city partnered with the ambulance company — AMR – to get the PPE.
"It took a number of days — probably up to two weeks — before we were able to really come together with AMR as well as get the final confirmation from the state," Trantalis said.
AMR's Chief of Operations, Brooke Liddle, told CBS4 News that they supplied 24 employees and all the PPE for the Holiday Park testing site. Liddle said they are typically well-stocked with PPE due to the nature of their business and they received some additional materials from their national resource. Liddle said they expect to be at Holiday Park as long as the city needs them.
Trantalis hopes the new testing site shows how extensive COVID-19 is in the community.
"We just hope we can continue with the testing site for at least two months to be able to insure the community that we've finally figured out who has the disease and who doesn't and to get those people to medical care," he said.
The Holiday Park testing site can accommodate up to 400 tests per day. A doctor's note is not needed but you must make an appointment.
Fort Lauderdale does have designs for more testing. Trantalis told CBS4 News that he'd like to set up an antibody testing site in the city to study who may have been previously infected with COVID-19.
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