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Cuyahoga County is struggling to acquire needed protective gear for first responders, and other employees who must enter private homes as part of their work, said County Executive Armond Budish.

Speaking at the county鈥檚 daily news briefing on the coronavirus pandemic, Budish said there is a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to keep workers safe who have personal contact with the public.

Social workers with children and family services, for example, are required to go into homes to investigate accusations of neglect and abuse. They are, however, lower on the priority list for protective equipment than doctors, nurses and first responders, he said.

Since those supplies are coming slowly from the federal and state government, the county has been working independently to find private businesses to purchase supplies, he said. 

鈥淲e鈥檝e contacted vendors all over the country. We thought we had one on Friday, [but] turned out it didn鈥檛 work," he said.

鈥淚 have authorized as much money as needed to get those PPE and we will distribute it if we get it,鈥� Budish said.

The county would distribute the equipment both to the hospitals and to county employees if they are able to find a vendor with PPE, he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e competing. It鈥檚 international. It's not just local. It鈥檚 not just national,鈥� he said.

First responders are also reevaluating how they use the masks and other gear to try to get the most life out of the equipment, said Terry Allan, Cuyahoga County Health Commissioner.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hopeful that we鈥檒l start to see the flow come in,鈥� said Allan, "but it is a challenging moment."

The county and all the large hospitals systems are exploring options to sterilize the equipment, such as the protective masks, so they can be used more than one time, Budish said.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that some entrepreneurs, innovators, are saying is possible. We鈥檙e looking at it. We鈥檙e exploring it. I don鈥檛 know whether it will work or not,鈥� he said.

County leaders said they have also been receiving calls from people in the community who are volunteering to make masks, said Cuyahoga County Medical Director Dr. Heidi Gullett.

鈥淭his has been a remarkable time of people being innovative, but also a time of people finding they have a box of N-95鈥檚 [respirators] here and there they didn鈥檛 realize that they had,鈥� Gullett said.

She urged anyone who has items to donate to call the county COVID-19 phone line, 1-855-711-3035, to ensure the items are equitably distributed to the workers who need them.

County leaders also used the briefing to call on Cuyahoga County residents to comply with the order issued by Gov. DeWine on Sunday.

All non-essential businesses must close their doors, and non-essential employees, must stay home starting Monday at midnight, through April 6.

鈥淲e can do this. We are tough and we will get through this,鈥� Budish said.

Although the stillness that will likely come as many people stay home will be disconcerting, all residents must abide by the order, Allan said.

鈥淭his is about saving lives,鈥� he said.