I received a Harbor Freight newsletter over the weekend, detailing how they were donating their entire supply of N95 masks, face shields, and 5 and 7 mil nitrile gloves to US hospitals with 24 hour emergency rooms.
They have set up a special page for hospital procurement officials to contact them for donation arrangements. If arrangements can be made, hospital officials will be able to pick up supplies at their local Harbor Freight locations when available.
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Eric Smidt, Harbor Freight’s owner and founder adds that they’re donating everything we’ve got.
Related, Demetri wrote in over the weekend, with a note that contractors are being asked to donate any N95 masks they might be able to spare. Here’s the CNN article about this. If you’re sitting on a supply of unused masks, consider donating them to your local hospital, contacting them first to coordinate.
Mike emailed in, asking about what we (or any industry friends that might be reading this) can do to complement current efforts to bolster N95 mask production and supply. Any ideas?
Kentucky fan
This right here is the kind of thing that makes me proud to be an American. Hopefully more companies will follow suit it may cost them now but when this is all over people will remember who stepped up to bat to help alleviate this crisis
Cr8on
Harbor Freight, this is truly a great kindness! Thank you!
Peter Rudy
It.will.save.lives.
Wayne R.
After Hurricane Katrina, I had dim hopes that Federal response would become a lot better, and more timely too – but that expectation has been proven foolish. I’m more than impressed with all the governors, mayors and some companies that are stepping into that federal void.
It’d be amazing if those in Washington were more interested in helping citizens rather than themselves.
fred
These are tough times for all of us including our leaders. It is not always clear what path to follow or how to do the right thing even if your motives have only the best intentions. Add into the mix the desire to be re-elected and what mixed messages you may be receiving from you constituency – and you have more potential for procrastination and prevarication.
Reading about the timeline of still unfolding events in Italy – I am not terribly sanguine about really good outcomes here. What I get has unfolded in Italy were things like this as the epidemic unfolded:
Politicians at social and press gatherings trying to reassure the public
10 days later prominent politicians saying that they were infected
Early mixed messages and citizens not heeding warnings
Trying to preserve civil liberties and the economy in face of a spreading epidemic
Confusing the general population with assurances that soon proved unfounded
Piecemeal approaches trying to isolate some towns – then regions and finally the whole country
Incrementalism instead of quick drastic action
Difficulty in navigating the divisions of powers between Rome’s central government and the regions
Warnings and requests for help from Milan being ignored or downplayed in Rome
Politicians reluctant to make painful decisions early enough to have an impact – Resulting in missteps and lost opportunities
Failure to communicate the threat adequately and a big portion of the citizenry that seemed to want to ignore the threat to them individually
The Hubris of politicians that what happened in China could not possibly happen in Italy
Their thinking that more testing was leading to an overestimation of the virus spread
Their thoughts that the well regarded and seemingly robust healthcare system in Lombardy would be up to task
Their thought that people who were allowed to travel in and out of Lombardy or those who became ill with mild symptoms would self- quarantine
It is sobering that Italy has more hospital beds per capita than we do in the US – and that they are being overwhelmed.
Eric
Thank you this Fred! This brief synapsis really puts things into perspective. And thank you Harbor Freight, I’ve always loved your stores and will continue to shop there.
Nate K.
Way to go Harbor Frightening!
JeffD
Hey Corporate America, wake up! This is the way it is done.
Kudos to HF!
Albert
I’m going to remember this. Also Menards charging $40 for two N95 masks. Good job HF!
kkwright
Though I haven’t seen this personally, if Menards, or anyone else is/was charging $40.00 for two masks, they should be ashamed of themselves. This is absurd.
Menards, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace and all the rest need to step up and do their part.
tojen1981
The problem is everybody is hoarding masks and needed supplies, which drives up the cost.
It’s a crappy, but necessary, thing to do to keep stock of these things. People need to stop pretending like the sky is falling so this can pass as painlessly as possible.
skfarmer
hf gets a lot of bad press. some of it deserved, most of it not.
this one gets a giant thumbs up.
no single thing will solve this but if we get enough of these things happening it will make a huge difference.
Will
I’m a pediatrician that works in a clinic. I’m a little bummed out that these things are only going to hospitals with 24 hour ER’s, as primary clinics could use more stuff too. But it’s a reasonable decision, a lot of the hospitals are really going to be stress tested to their limits. I’d been making the rounds at various HD, Lowe’s, Menards, and Ace here in Omaha. In the last two weeks I’ve found 7 face shields and about 100 safety glasses (no shortage of the glasses). I’ve got 3 more face shields coming through a neighbor who has an auto repair shop. With all that the clinic I work for should be about set. We have TB patients with some regularity, so we already had N-95’s that we fit test with yearly. I like the community support aspect of people donating N-95’s, but hope the staff that wears them is capable enough to at least make sure they get a good deal with a specific model mask since fit testing isn’t really practical at the moment. We’ll be reusing masks, but with precautions it should be safe enough, or at least safer than the alternatives.
Will
Good seal, not good deal. Autocorrect is not aware of the importance of the seal apparently.
Wayne R.
Our Colorado governor said yesterday that, I think, 49k masks were coming in from the national stockpile – but that it’s not even one day’s worth. That’s a shocking number to me.
Seems like there should be a push for all-day hoods that’ll take the pressure off hugely repetitive logistics and also provide a higher level of protection to the health care personnel. Not sure what that solution would be, and how decon would work, but holy crap, the current thing doesn’t sound even remotely sustainable.
eric
Good for them. The state agency I work at gave away some of a 10 year old supply of n95 masks until someone realized they where better than nothing.
Jim Felt
Good on Eric Smidt! Really.
I’ve always wondered about the guy and his lifestyle but now we really know something truly positive.
So far the corporate drones in retail and the multinationals we all support are nearly paralyzed.
https://youtu.be/YKMG7D4rxX4
This is what we need now at the national level. Not a wanna be Don Corleone.
Wash your hands waaay too much and try to safely help your less fortunate neighbors.
Ubet
I went spelunking in my garage and found two boxes of N 95 masks. Called up a nurse friend of mine and now she has more than she did yesterday.
It’s not a massive amount but it’s something. Maybe we could all take a look in our storage areas and see what we have to donate, even if it’s just a few masks.
Jim Felt
If everyone one of us did what you did it would certainly make a difference.
We sadly are the best that we’ve got. #NoNationalLeadership
Good on you.
Paul K
Right on this page, googleadservices.com is serving me an add for N95 Masks at $13.99/PCS
Not clear who it’s from other than a BestoHolder logo of sorts. Didn’t click on it.
Stuart
Thanks – I’ll see if I can find that ad to block or even report it.
rob
Unfortunately I had an accident over the weekend that required an ER visit along with a full EMS system roll out (ambulance/Fire Dept). The fire responders all came with their masks on and made sure to explain to me why they were wearing them. It happened to be that my family was with me and they said the paramedics told them I’d also be receiving a mask as I am an “underlying health condition” person. There were not enough masks for them to do that at this point. But even more appalling than that the nurse taking care of me worked their entire shift without a mask. This is a major hospital in a metro area with over 50 beds in their ER alone. The idea that our first responders are going without PPE is dangerous and crazy. And I bang my head against the wall thinking that people can actually say “we never foresaw this happening. ” Anyone in CA the last 5 years knows each fall most retailers both online and brick and mortar ran out of them as residents searched for “N95” masks to protect them from smoke. We literally needs millions in each state when you do simple math at a hospital not only do nurses and Drs need them, but so do engineering. food service, admitting, radiation, security, billing…all these depts come face to face with possible exposure everyday. So contrary to what you may be hearing that “there is enough we just need to get it out” that’s not the truth. We are having drives for people to donate their safety glasses, masks, and other items to health care workers in the USA?!?!? Do what you can and practice your social distance, it’s on all of us to do our part.
You may think you’re immune but you never really know who has that underlying issue, your friend who plays basketball every weekend may have diabetes, the college athlete that competes at a high level, your cubicle neighbor who may have an autoimmune disease. You can’t look at someone and think “oh they have health issues…” Best advice so far is to stay inside as much as possible and assume you or your friends are positive but asymptomatic.
Ubet
First off, I hope you are recovering well from your misadventure.
The PPE situation:
It’s horrendous. My nurse friend who I gave my masks to has told me that at her hospital the security guards get masks, the doctors get masks (even the ones with minimal patient contact no closer than six feet) but the nurses who are up close, face to face and hands on with the patients are left wanting. That’s just crazy.
There is a full on push in the Bay Area (and nation wide) that folks who know how to sew start turning out masks. Not my skill set but if I had a machine I’d be on it.
I’m staying in playing the hermit and doing it quite well.
Stay well everyone.
Lyle
Your last sentence here “ Best advice so far is to stay inside as much as possible and assume you or your friends are positive but asymptomatic.” is really key. One of the best and most truthful pieces of information I’ve read all day.
Toolfreak
This sounds nice, but given the low quality of such items at HF, this sounds downright dangerous for medical professionals to be relying on them for actual personal protection from a virus.
Some will say the low quality stuff is better than nothing, I’d say it’s worse since you do things when you think you’re protected that you wouldn’t when you know you’re not.
Rob
While that may be true it is better than using a bandana or cut up shirt or worse nothing at all. Many frontline medical workers are using surgical masks which can’t filter out the virus. If these are N95 they’d have to meet those specs. And the other items they’re donating are just as much needed. In CA alone they’re working to bring on another 50k hospital beds..
Paul E Hacker
The whole thing is a mess … shame on our Govt. for not having the foresight to see this kind of thing coming since they were warned over a year ago it was possible. Shame on the American people who appear not smart enough to protect themselves by staying home, although the Govt. should have imposed this long ago in the beginning . We are all in this together but different generations seem to have different views and attitudes about it. The political infighting will end up dooming this country in our time of need. The effects of this will be felt for years to come, this is not just a downturn in the stock market but a downturn in our whole way of life.
Dave
Seems like an excellent idea.
What happens to the general public when they need this equipment though?
Down here is Australia our government has had to put a stop to the export of our supplies to other nations. 3M has been caught sending all their supplies stateside.
Bob
I try not to buy products at HF as I am not a fan of supporting Chinease made goods due to the poor human rights , enviromental and economic record of the Chinease Government. BUT the owner of HF is a good guy for donating PPE. I also happen to believe his vision of low cost tools for hardworking americans is an admirable mission. I just whish he could source goods from a better country.
As far as hospitals (or any private company) keeping stockpiles of anything forget about it. They like all modern industry run on a just in time logistics system. Its inefficient to do otherwise. How many people complain about the cost of healthcare? And now they want to blame them for being as lean and efficient as possible in regards to supply logistics.
Emergency logistics is a core responsibility of Government. Because they don’t have shareholders in the traditional sense they can afford to and are generaly encouraged to stockpile goods. But even they can’t plan for everything.
ktash
Good for HF! I’ve bought some useful and decent quality things from them. I’ll do so again, giving them preference for some items after this is all over. About a week ago donated a box surgical masks from HF to a clinic here that treats cancer patients. I had some N-95s from 3M that went to the hospital.
I saw in the news that nurses were wearing the large garbage bags instead of gowns.