US provides Covid-19 safety gears to fire service

The United States provided essential personal protective equipment (PPE) to Fire Service and Civil Defense (FSCD) as part of US assistance to Bangladesh's Covid-19 response efforts.

US ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller and representatives of the US military's Indo-Pacific Command on Monday handed over the medical logistics to FSCD Director of Training, Planning, and Development LTC Zulfiker Rahman and Assistant Director Mohammed Abdul Momen, a press release reads.

The US embassy Dhaka donated equipment delivered includes 1,000 KN95 surgical masks, 800 bottles of 200-milliliter hand sanitizer, 500 pairs of surgical gloves, 300 hazardous materials (HAZMAT) suits, 100 protective masks, and 50 medical goggles, all of which were sourced locally from Bangladeshi companies.

The ministries of health and home affairs will distribute the PPE equipment to FSCD first responders working to protect local communities against the spread of Covid-19.

The US government has provided over $22 million to complement the Bangladesh government's ongoing efforts to prepare and respond to the spread of Covid-19 till date, said the US embassy in Dhaka.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the US government has committed more than $900 million worldwide in emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance.

FSCD first responders are critical front-line workers confronting this crisis.  They, together with health care workers, police, journalists and photojournalists, people who work in grocery stores and pharmacies and other businesses, and in non-governmental and community organizations, perform remarkable acts of service every day, said the embassy.