Former State Sen. Conrad Appel is criticizing Louisiana officials for not having needed strategic medical stockpiles on hand to confront the coronavirus crisis. In his 11 years in the state Senate, he says he does not recall the Department of Health or the Governor’s Office of Emergency Planning (GOSEP) alerting the legislature that the medical stockpiles were under supplied.
“We now have some of the highest case rates and death rates in the world. And yet we are begging the federal government to send us basic supplies from their stockpile,” Appel told The Hayride.
The Strategic National Stockpile is a supply of medical provisions and medications held by the CDC, and in the event of a massive medical crisis, each state must have plans to receive and distribute medicine and medical supplies to their local communities as quickly as possible.
“Not once did these trusted experts alert us to the danger of not having a powerful strategy to employ if a medical emergency overtook us,” Appel told The Hayride.
Appel concedes that the issue dates back through many governors and department heads.
“Clearly, we didn’t have even enough of the basics, such as Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), on hand to prepare us for a statewide medical emergency. And even more clear is that we didn’t have long lead items like ventilators on hand to help our people survive,” he said.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has reacted quickly and appropriately to the Covid 19 crisis, Appel said, but that has been woefully short of what has been needed.
“The only plan seems to have been to react to problems, instead of being pro-active. We have reacted in many of these areas, but how much time and how many lives have been lost?”
Mindy Faciane, a public information officer for the Louisiana Health Department told the Record that the state had just one week supply in place at the start of the crisis. Louisiana, and other states, count on the federal government to maintain a national stockpile, she said.
“Louisiana had enough supplies to stock a medical special needs shelter for approximately one week. The state has worked to secure supplies from the strategic national stockpile as well as make purchases from private vendors,” she said.
Back in 2005, Louisiana was a leader in planning for medical emergencies by accessing and distributing medical stockpiles and their allocations. The state was chosen by the CDC to train neighboring states in how to receive and distribute supplies in the event of an emergency.
Faciane said Louisiana, like many other states, has had problems getting needed medical supplies and equipment from the federal government. She provided a spreadsheet showing how their requests far exceeded the amount of supplies and equipment that had been received. For instance, Louisiana requested 1.2 million N95 masks. As of April 7 only 251,000 had been received, the chart shows. Louisiana requested 875,000 gowns. As of April 7, only 251,090 had been received.