Hospital staff across the country are working long hours, wearing layers of added personal protective equipment to shield them from the contagious coronavirus. The Allegany County Department of Emergency Services wanted to say thank you to some of our local heroes at UPMC-Western Maryland. 

 

“As we watch the news, we are seeing nurses and hospital staff with red, irritated skin from the constant rubbing of the mask on their face and ears.  Therefore the Department of Emergency Services wanted to make a small donation to our local heroes at UPMC – Western Maryland.” Emergency Services Director James Pyles said.

 

On Thursday afternoon, Director Pyles and Lt. Todd Bowman delivered rubber straps that are worn on the back of your head to secure the ear hooks from your mask to the strap.

 

“By doing this, it takes the rubbing and irritation away from the ears,” Pyles added. “It is just a small token of our appreciation for the hard work hospital staff do on a regular basis.”

 

The straps are cleanable and reusable, Pyles said. 

 

The straps were donated to staff working in the emergency department, critical care, CVU and the COVID Unit.

 

“We are all in this together. Our crews work closely with the emergency department, but we also wanted to make this donation to the other incredible departments working tirelessly through this pandemic,” Pyles said. “The partnership DES has with UPMC-Western Maryland remains strong and we plan to continue that relationship.”