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MILFORD – The federal government intercepted a shipment of protective gowns ordered by Milford for the Fire Department and local hospital, according to Fire Chief William Touhey Jr.
"We recently ... made a purchase of a number of masks and gowns, and unfortunately the federal government got to our distributor prior to our order being shipped," Touhey told selectmen this week, "and, unfortunately, none of the items that we had ordered will be coming directly to us."
Touhey told the Daily News on Friday that the town ordered 30,000 gowns - a type of personal protective equipment, or PPE, meant to help protect first responders from contracting the novel coronavirus.
The Fire Department planned to keep some, but donate the majority of them to Milford Regional Medical Center.
"We were going to keep some of them, but (hospital workers) need them more than we need them," he said.
He was later informed that the town wouldn't be getting any of the 30,000 gowns, as the federal government had stepped in and taken them instead.
"We're very low on the food chain when you look at the big picture of the country," he said.
Touhey is also waiting on the remainder of a shipment of masks – he got about 500 of a 2,500 order – but isn't sure what happened to those.
"The normal places that we order our supplies from under normal conditions, most everything's back-ordered," Touhey said Friday. "Until they re-establish the supply chain, it's kind of hit-or-miss on supplies."
His department has standing orders with a few places, he said, just in case any of the supplies come in.
As of Friday, the department had about 40 or 50 gowns packed away in kits, along with gloves, masks, and other PPEs. The kits are to be used by firefighters when they need to enter homes during the pandemic.
Firefighters started out with about 75 kits, but haven't used too many yet, thanks to a new system put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Under the new system, at least four people – two on a fire engine and two on an ambulance – respond to an emergency call, but only one person - from the ambulance - goes into a home for initial contact.
"If he needs help, he calls and the other guys get dressed and go in," Touhey said. "Basically, it's reducing the number of people who are subject to any exposure, and it also conserves what limited resources we have."
Three firefighters so far have been tested for COVID-19 because they were in close contact with sick people, Touhey said, but all three tests came back negative.
Without the new system in place, or with an increase in calls, Touhey said, the department could easily use up its remaining kits in a day.
"Everyone's talking about the surge, we've got a surge coming," Touhey said. "If the surge gets ugly, we could be in trouble."
State projections estimate a spike in COVID-19 cases between April 10 and April 20.
Touhey urged people to continue social distancing.
"I fear that as we go forward in time, and the warmer weather finally gets here, that people are going to be out and about. They're going to get antsy," he said.
Alison Bosma can be reached at 508-634-7582 or [email protected]. Find her on Twitter at @AlisonBosma.
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