Clearwater, FL, Mar 23, 2020 – During this unprecedented era surrounding the emergence and rapidly growing impact of the “Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19), it is of utmost importance to reassure Mercury Medical customers that we are fully operational. We also want to address potential business concerns with our initiatives to assist our customers and their patients.
Increasing Demand and Available Inventory: We are continually communicating with health care supply chain systems along with government officials in the US, Canada, UK, European Union and other markets to assess their increased demand for disposable respiratory devices and other Mercury Medical critical care devices. We have implemented and executed plans calling for numerous additional resources to increase production, assembly and shipping during this high demand period. In addition, we are working closely with our manufacturing partners to prioritize and increase manufacturing of key components while expediting the delivery to our facility in Clearwater, FL. We feel it is critical to assess the market demand and allocate products for the COVID-19 patients based upon critical need and the greatest impact on patients that need them the most.
Distribution: Due to the changing dynamics impacting global shipping, airfreight and trucking systems there may be some shipping delays of product that may affect your order. Customers should continue to place orders with the understanding that during this critical demand period, we will be reviewing and allocating some partial shipments in an effort to meet as much clinical need while providing as much product patient care as possible. Any partial shipments will be clearly communicated to our customers.
Employees: First and foremost, Mercury Medical employees are our greatest resource and we want to maintain a safe workplace. We continually encourage the recommended hand hygiene and routine environmental cleaning practices as outlined by the CDC’s “Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers:” www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html
Customers: We also want to ensure our customers and their patients that we are taking extensive actions to ensure the continuity of our business operations. We are expanding our manufacturing and assembly capabilities, expediting shipments of critical components and prioritizing our manufacturing output to ensure that our Disposable Flow-Safe CPAP systems, CPR Resuscitation systems and Respiratory Filter products are available to the clinicians and patients that need them to treat COVID-19. To better manage and ensure that these products are allocated to those areas and customers most severely impacted by COVID-19, we may have to prioritize shipments. During this allocation period, our customers may initially see a backorder on their order confirmations until product is allocated. Our goal is to complete every order as quickly as possible to assist you in your patient care efforts.
Guidelines: The American Heart Association, AHA recently published the COVID-19 Interim Guidance to Health Care Providers. The guidance covers recommendations for treating respiratory and cardiac arrest patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. There are several statements in the publication that are of particular importance for clinicians seeking guidance in COVID-19 airway management clinical practices. The link to the entire publication can be accessed below.
www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.121.008396
“Securely attach a HEPA filter to any ventilation device” – Page 1106
“Ventilate with a Bag-Mask-HEPA filter with a tight seal until a SGA or ETT airway is in place” – Page 1106
“Alternatively, a low dead space viral filter or a HME with >99.99% viral filtration efficiency may be placed between the ventilation device and the airway” – Page 1109
“A surgical mask on a patient with COVID-19 may help deflect exhaled respiratory particles that can pass through some oxygen delivery masks” – Page 1108
“Consider use of a video laryngoscope” – Page 1106
Contact Information: For over 55 years, Mercury Medical has been your proven partner and, together, we can conquer this latest threat to clinicians and patients on the front lines. Thank you for all you are doing to combat this disease and for your patience and understanding as we continue to ramp up production to meet your critical care needs. If you have any questions, please contact your local Mercury Medical account manager. You may also contact us at 800-237-6418.
