April 16, 2020
When OU professor Shailesh Lal received an early morning text from Dr. Angela Helmholdt asking for donations of personal protective equipment, he and his colleagues in the Department of Biological Sciences answered the call.
Dr. Helmholdt, an OU graduate and pediatric anesthesiologist at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, explained that her department was fast running out of critically needed personal protective equipment to meet the growing demand of incoming COVID-19 patients.
“Angela asked if our biomedical research community could donate any supplies, which could be immediately available to clinicians working on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lal said. “Soon after, I sent an email to faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences and received generous donations from a number of our faculty members.”
Biology faculty members donated personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, Nitrile gloves, protective eyewear and lab coats, to Children's Hospital of Michigan. |
The donations included N95 masks, Nitrile gloves, protective eyewear and lab coats, which will help keep health care professionals from getting infected or potentially infecting others.
Along with Lal, biology faculty members who contributed donations were Sara Blumer-Schuette, Zijuan Liu and Douglas Wendell.
In a follow-up email, Dr. Helmholdt expressed gratitude for the donations and emphasized the importance of personal protective equipment at a time when supplies are running short.
She wrote, “Our anesthesia providers are on the front line of airway management for infected and potentially infected patients. Many hospitals around the country are rationing supplies to avoid running out completely. This equipment will allow us to keep our health care providers safe, so that we can continue to care for patients from all over Michigan and the world. I am very proud to be an alumnus of Oakland University.”