NEW HAVEN, Conn. (PRWEB)
April 29, 2020

NeedMasksToday, launched by a coalition of resident physicians and other medical providers at Yale University, today announced an online non-partisan event to explain what caused the global PPE shortage and how we can pivot to long term solutions for Americans that stimulate the economy, create manufacturing jobs and provide much needed national security. The “Need Masks Today” virtual march takes place on Saturday, May 2, 2020, from 2:00 PM until 4:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time. GetUsPPE.org and Masks4America.org, national organizations that provide centralized platforms to get PPE materials to frontline providers, are joining as co-sponsors. The American Medical Student Association and Doctors for America are also joining as sponsors. ELEW, a world-renowned concert pianist, will be performing a live 30 minute set to close out the day. The virtual march will be broadcast on the Crowdcast.io live streaming platform and be shared to Facebook and YouTube.

The two and a half-hour live broadcast brings together medical professionals, journalists, legislators, educators, historians, and celebrities to discuss the most expedient long term solution to our national shortage medical supplies: for the White House to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) for PPE and pharmaceuticals that would spur our economy, fuel jobs and provide a greater level of national security.

Katherine “Kiki” Kennedy, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, is one of the organizers. “At Yale, I teach physician advocacy to resident physicians from many disciplines – internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry – many of whom are working on the frontlines, in ERs, ICUs, and hospital floors. When COVID-19 happened we refocused on their primary concern: the nationwide PPE shortage and the negative impacts that shortage creates for frontline medical providers, patients, and the general public.”

Moderated by journalists and commentators from The Hill, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, and the Financial Times, participants will hear from policymakers, frontline responders, and business owners about the challenges supplying medical professionals and how the country could pivot toward a coordinated national response under the Defense Production Act. By talking with those directly affected and those in power, this event provides insight on how the country has addressed infectious disease in the past, how the DPA provides a framework for the quickest solution and the greatest benefit to our economy, and what immediate action all Americans can take to help advance a solution.

The virtual march is being produced by Analytic Events.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Keegan-Michael Key, Actor, Writer, and Producer
• Alysia Reiner, Actor, Producer, and Activist (Orange Is the New Black)
• Neal Baer, MD, Pediatrician, Educator, and TV Writer/Producer (ER, Designated Survivor, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
• US Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT)
• US Representative Joe Kennedy III (MA)
• Gillian Tett, Financial Times, Chair of Editorial Board and U.S. Editor-at-Large
• Joe Nocera, Bloomberg journalist and NPR commentator
• Steven Clemons, The Hill, Editor-at-Large
• David Fialkow, Venture capitalist and Co-Founder, General Catalyst
• Douglas Brinkley, Ph.D., Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and professor of history at Rice University, commentator for CNN, and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair
• Easton Lachapelle, CEO and Co-Founder (with Tony Robbins), Unlimited Tomorrow
• Emil Hill, Executive Vice President, Powell Tate Weber Shandwick
• Dr. Lisa Lattanza, MD, Yale School of Medicine, Dept. of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
• Dr. Sanjeev Sriram, Organizer at Masks for America and Senior Advisor, Social Security Works
• Dr. Megan Ranney, MD, Emergency physician, Founding Director of the Brown Emergency Digital Health Innovation •program, and an organizer at GetUsPPE.org
• Abbe Gluck, JD, Professor at Yale Law School, Professor of Internal Medicine at Yale Medical School, and Professor in the Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale

ELEW (Eric Robert Lewis), world-renowned pianist, DJ, and screenwriter/director, will be providing live entertainment and hosting a 30-minute live concert when the speakers conclude.

The virtual summit is free to view and will remain available for replay after the event. Registration is on the organization’s Crowdcast page.

About NeedMasksToday

NeedMasksToday is a coalition of Yale resident physicians and other medical providers calling for adequate PPE for frontline medical providers and the community in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are calling for a national solution to address our national PPE shortage.

About GetUsPPE.org

GetUsPPE is a grassroots movement founded by physicians and medical researchers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team has grown to include engineers, scientists, programmers, and concerned citizens working around the clock to get them and their colleagues the equipment they need.

About Masks for America

Masks for America found and partnered with a manufacturer selling FDA-certified, CDC-approved KN95 masks at a fraction of what hospitals and governments have been paying for N95 masks. Within 2 weeks, we’d funded, received, and delivered 19,000 masks. Within three weeks, nearly 50,000.

About American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), founded in 1950 and based in Washington, D.C., is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. AMSA is a student-governed, national organization. They have a membership of 68,000 medical students, premedical students, interns, medical residents and practicing physicians from across the country.

About Doctors for America

Doctors for America mobilizes doctors and medical students to be leaders in putting patients over politics on the pressing issues of the day to improve the health of our patients, communities, and nation.

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