Felician University Donates PPE to Support Rutherford Volunteers in Fight Against COVID-19!

Felician University’s School of Nursing donated 600 N95 Masks to the Rutherford Volunteer Ambulance Squad. N95 masks are critical pieces of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for health care and emergency workers, especially needed during the current COVID-19 Pandemic.

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Dr. Christine Mihal, Dean of Felician’s School of Nursing says, “We decided that the first priority for Felician was Rutherford’s first responders. These are people that are on the front lines, and they have no idea what they might be dealing with when they answer an ambulance call.” In addition to the 600 N95 Masks, Felician’s donations also included 13 boxes of gloves, 40 yellow gowns and 12 sets of goggles.

Mike Tarantino is Captain of Rutherford’s Volunteer Ambulance Squad and also serves as Rutherford’s Emergency Management Coordinator. Capt. Tarantino says squad members are grateful for the donations, because “you cannot do social distancing in the back of an ambulance with a stretcher and a patient about one foot away from you.” Tarantino says the ambulance squad provides emergency protection every day to those in Rutherford including Felician University adding, “but we can’t do it by ourselves, we are a team of everybody.”

There’s much support and mutual respect between the ambulance workers and the nursing students, some who are volunteering between 60 & 70 hours a week at long term care facilities and other places. Several students have already contracted the virus. Captain Tarantino says, “Felician’s donation of the N95 masks is very much appreciated by our family members because they will help keep us safe.”

Dr. Mihal says the feeling is mutual saying, “we are very grateful to the first responders and were happy to donate them.”

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About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.