Megan Ranney

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ranney drew public attention to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff.[8][9][3] Ranney pointed out that alongside escalating SARS-CoV-2 patient numbers, the protocols, treatment options and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations changed everyday.[10][11] At the time she was based at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.[10] Ranney described shortages in PPE in The New England Journal of Medicine, where she called for Donald Trump to invoke the Defense Production Act and ensure private companies to start manufacturing PPE.[12] She requested that private-sector companies start to manufacture N95 masks, and that the Food and Drug Administration relaxed the standards to allow healthcare workers to have faster access to protective clothing.[12] She has asked whether local governments could better coordinate the collection of PPE from existing stockpiles.[12][13][14] In March 2020, Ranney submitted recommendations to the federal government of the United States on what priorities should be included in the COVID-19 Stimulus Bill.[15] Her recommendations included focussing on health security, protecting the health of all American's, particularly those from minoritised backgrounds, and to invest money in public health initiatives.[15]

Ranney worked with Shuhan He, a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital, to create the organisation #GetUsPPE.[4] GetUsPPE is a grassroots collective of engineers, medical professionals and volunteers who look to locate, create and distribute equipment to Americans in need.[16] #GetUsPPE called for the public to donate money and resources to protect frontline physicians.[17] Amongst other donations, Ranney collected 4,000 N95 masks from colleagues at Brown University.[18]

In March 2020 Ranney lost her colleague, Frank Gabrin, to the coronavirus disease. He was the first emergency doctor to die from such symptoms.[19] Ranney was quoted by Meet the Press as saying, "He was a leader within the emergency room field. ... Unless our government steps up & gets us the protective equipment we need, he will be the first of many of my colleagues".[19]