The Mask Project: NSW Coronavirus Support Fund

New South Wales hospitals are running short of supplies for NSW frontline health workers, our doctors, nurses, midwives, and healthcare professionals who are treating and are in contact with COVID-19 patients.

Although the coronavirus situation in Australia is weeks behind countries such as China, Italy, United Kingdom and America, we have already received an overwhelming number of responses from nurses in ED and ICU reaching out to us through the Facebook group Adopt a Healthcare Worker Sydney 

We are seeing news reporting doctors & nurses around the world are seeing patients without necessary PPEs to keep them protected from the Coronavirus. In Italy, as high as 9% of healthcare workers are now infected.

We cannot let this happen to our protectors in Australia.

As a healthcare IT professional working closely with our hospitals in NSW, I cannot just sit and watch our colleagues and friends fight alone. I spoke with medical professionals and hospital equipment managers: they urgently need masks. Leveraging personal relationships, I am able to secure shipments of N95 masks from a certified equipment manufacturer.

Your donation will go directly towards the purchase and delivery of Personal Protective Equipment including N95, surgical masks, face shields, goggles and protective gowns to frontline healthcare workers in GP practices, NSW hospitals Emergency departments, intensive care units, respiratory wards etc...

We have responses from the following hospitals and we will use the fund raised to meet their urgent needs:

• Bankstown hospital
• Liverpool hospital
• Campbelltown hospital
• Westmead hospital
• Gosford hospital
• Royal Prince Alfred hospital
• Northern Beaches hospital
• Mona value urgent care centre
• Sydney/Sydney Eye hospital
• Sutherland hospital
• Ryde hospital

And the list is growing…..

 THE GOAL

Get as many certified N95 Masks - NIOSH (Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) or Standard AS/NZS 1716: 2012 -  into the hands of frontline healthcare workers as fast as possible.

Depending on feedback from front-line healthcare workers, we will expand our procurement to face shield, goggles and protection clothing. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

• For every $50 you donate, we will get 10 NIOSH-approved N95 masks
• For every $100 you donate, we will get 20 NIOSH-approved N95 masks

Please note, given the shortage of N95 masks, we have been told to expect a price increase in the future.

OUR COMMITMENT TO TRANSPARENCY

100% of the funds (minus gofundme’s processing fees: 2.2% + 30 cents) will go directly to the purchase and delivery of N95 masks and other PPEs to front-line healthcare workers at New South Wales public hospitals and GP clinics. 

Once the masks are delivered, we will mark our drop-offs on a map, so you can stay updated on where the donations are going.

To get updates on our progress, join our Facebook Group The NSW Mask Project - Protect our Protector  where I will be posting stories & photos to show the impact of your donations.

WHO I AM

Jocelyn Wang , Australian born in China, brought up in the UK, moved to Sydney 10 years ago. I work for a Healthcare IT company to deliver electronic medical record systems to hospitals across Australia and have professional affiliations with many of the hospitals in need.

MY STORY

The idea to raise funds to purchase N95 and other PPEs for NSW public hospitals started with this post asking if anyone working for hospitals in Sydney needed PPE items.

The responses I received over 48 hours were overwhelming, with 100+ messages from doctors, nurses, anaesthetists & midwives across NSW hospitals. 

This made me realise my initial self funded donation of 200 masks was not sufficient to help. I need the help of the community to work together and scale this up.

WHAT HAVE YOU ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR AND WHAT'S NEXT?

(1) First shipment of N95 masks is on its way,  purchased with personal funds. I will prioritise ICU and ED departments.

(2) Together with likeminded people, we are working with TGA, supply chain and distribution for subsequent purchases and deliver them to hospitals in need as soon as possible.

(3) We have two facebook groups, Adopt a Healthcare Worker Sydney  & The NSW Mask Project – Protect Our Protector  to connect with healthcare professionals across major hospitals in NSW to assess their needs, track our activities and provide visibility on how money is spent.

Sp No.   No.  of Mks     Ordered Dt        Est. Delivery Dt
1               200                      20/03/2020       30/03/2020 (Delayed due to flight cancellation)
2               300                      21/03/2020       01/04/2020 (Received)

ASIDE FROM DONATIONS, HOW CAN I HELP?

• If you have extra packaged and sealed N95 masks and live in the major NSW suburbs, please leave a post here  with the title of "[Your suburb name] Mask Donation"

• If you are a healthcare worker or a hospital supply administrator please leave a post to the Facebook group here with the title of “Hospital Professional: PPE Requests”. 

• If you have a car and want  to help us with distribution, please leave a post here  with the title of “PPE Distribution Help”. 

• If you have a direct relationship with PPE manufacturers who can provide equipment at market costs, please leave a post here with the title of “PPE Equipment Manufacturer”

• If you are a member of the press, or would like to connect this group with a member of the press, you can contact me here