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COVID-19: FEMA Is Now in the Medical Supply Business

Put another notch in the handle for another new mission assumed by the agency.

In case of emergency, "Break Glass." That should be part of the FEMA motto and mission. Whatever you need, whenever you want it, wherever you need it delivered. See the Wall Street Journal article below.

At FEMA, Companies Offer Critical Coronavirus Supplies the Government Can’t Buy [Hopefully no paywall issues]

FEMA was thrust into unfamiliar territory and there had to be conflicts with HHS, plus the extra dynamic of having “the son-in-law” involved in the process.

Just knowing how the president thinks and acts, dealing favors to those showing personal fealty to him — there had to be those phone calls to Jared, “Hey I just talked to  __________ and take care of him.” See my blog post on that entire dynamic: COVID-19: Son-in-Law Helping Out at FEMA. One thing Trump is not known for is following processes, or norms for his office.

While the need for PPE is transitioning to other national “hot spots” [Note: the VA is one of the hospital systems with shortages — despite repeated denials] the likely hope at FEMA is that they can catch up and rebuild the stockpile for any subsequent waves of infections. Certainly, there will be a surge in ventilators coming as manufacturing processes get underway at GM and Ford.

I see no success story on the horizon for test kits! I don’t count antibody tests as likely accurate enough, and we don’t know how long the immunity lasts for a person testing positive.

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.