SCRANTON, Pa. — Medical students have found a way to help in the fight against COVID-19 by collecting supplies for healthcare workers.
The students, future doctors, at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Scranton have started PPE 2 NEPA, a group collecting medical supplies for hospitals and medical centers in our area.
They need cleaning supplies, surgical gowns, masks, gloves, and other PPE or personal protective equipment for healthcare workers.
"We have been in contact with a lot of the hospitals in Scranton in particular and we have been reaching out to some of the nursing homes as well, but they are staying all within the area," said Kris Muzzi.
Kris Muzzi and his roommate, Chris Swisher, are both med students at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. where they started MedSupplyDrive, an organization that began collecting medical supplies all over the country.
Muzzi and Swisher are both from Lackawanna County and working with MedSupplyDrive and PPE 2 NEPA.
"As medical students, we're not currently in the hospital, they pulled us out to preserve PPE so it seemed like a way to help the patients, help our colleagues and I'm a NEPA native, I went to Abington Heights class of 2012 so it just seemed natural that I try to bring it back home and help as much as I could," said Chris Swisher of MedSupplyDrive.
The students are collecting from anyone who has extra supplies.
They will pick them up without any contact with people who are donating.
They are also hoping for help from businesses and corporations, too.
"We're all in this together and I think we can all find ways, whether we're medical students, whatever field we're in, I think we can all find ways to make our communities a better place during this horrific time," said Swisher.
"As horrible as this pandemic has been it's been amazing to see the drive and the willingness to reach out that I've seen just myself," said Muzzi.
For more information on the organizations, how to donate, or how to request supplies, click here.