Westmoreland officials say first responders are running out of personal protection equipment

Westmoreland County’s first responders could run out of personal protective equipment by next week, public safety officials said Monday.

Public Safety Director Roland Mertz said the county’s stockpile of masks, gloves, medical gowns and other equipment used by first responders is quickly drying up, a situation made worse by the daily increases in coronavirus cases within Westmoreland County. Meanwhile, the county on March 25 received just a quarter of the supplies it requested from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

“We have enough supplies for today and we have enough for tomorrow. But, as we see more cases, we won’t have enough equipment. We still have enough to support us this week,” Mertz said. “We’ll be extremely concerned after this week.”

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County have grown from four cases at the start of last week to 55 as of Monday afternoon, according to state health officials. That increase has taxed first responders’ need for the equipment as part of what has become a new routine to ensure they are protected when called.

Mertz said the county first responder system of 118 fire departments, 33 police agencies and 28 ambulance and emergency medical providers is divided into four regional pods that are supplied with a stock of protective equipment that was previously distributed. That supply is running low.

“We have to plan that calls are going to increase. We know there are more than 55 cases out there,” Mertz said.

County officials have been rebuffed by the state health department in efforts to learn more specific information about where in the county the positive cases are located.

Commissioner Sean Kertes said it’s a question he’s been asked repeatedly but is unable to answer over the last week.

“The only way we were going to know that is if we have our own health department,” Kertes said.

The Allegheny County Health Department has issued public daily updates of it’s nearly 300 positive coronavirus cases and a map showing where they are located.

For Westmoreland County, which has the second highest number of cases in southwest Pennsylvania, that level of data is not forthcoming and, as a result, precludes public safety officials from focusing its equipment needs in any one particular area.

“We need to operate under the assumption that the virus has hit all corners of our county and the locations are no longer considered actionable data,” Mertz said.