All things considered, some folks would be thinking, “that’s a little over-kill”, while others would be thinking, “I wish I’d thought of that”.

I wouldn’t consider turning my years old 3M half-face respirator over to a healthcare organization that couldn’t plan ahead and purchase their own. I’ve got a supply of PPE (gloves and masks) here that are years old.

This is a wake-up call that the healthcare industry has been way too reliant on just-in-time inventory management and foreign sources. Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that when things are needed by many (as in a pandemic) those items may not arrive just-in-time — if ever. Foreign suppliers have demonstrated that regardless of how well they perform in benign environments, they are totally unreliable when under stress.

It’s why we stockpile when things are readily available rather than panic buying when they’re not.