Sandy Springs surgeon trying to donate ventialtors and PPE with no luck

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - Doctors and nurses across Georgia are in desperate need of new protective equipment. Masks, gloves and ventilators are in high demand, but one Fulton County doctor says healthcare workers shouldn't be facing shortages if they could get help from the community. Specifically, if surgery centers, now closed, could donate the equipment sitting unused in their facilities.

"It just feels like I'm sitting on an empty lifeboat watching the Titanic go down," said Dr. Craig Camasta, a foot and ankle surgeon in Sandy Springs.

Dr. Camasta is a foot and ankle surgeon, but he's stopped doing elective surgeries, so now his office, like many other elective surgery centers, sits empty.

"There's over 350 certified medicare certified surgery centers in Atlanta, which is the 4th largest number in the country, so there's probably about 1000 ventilators or anesthesia machines that currently aren't being accessed by the hospitals," said Camasta.

Camasta said he's worried that letting the supplies, especially ventilators, just sit in his office, is wasting time and putting lives at risk.

"It seems we're being a little more reactive than proactive to try and get these to where they need to be used the most," said the surgeon.

Camasta said he's tried to connect with local leaders and hospitals, but hasn't heard back on his plea to drop off supplies.

"Gowns, gloves, masks," he said. "There's a lot of that in the community. It just needs to be coordinated, and the state has a record of where all these facilities are," said Camasta, who is not the only one wanting to help:

"I even have a group of doctors who'd be willing to get a pickup truck and haul them into the hospitals, we just need to know they'll accept them," he said.

Camasta said he is hoping other surgery centers will find ways to drop off their own ventilators because a shortage could cost a family their loved one.

"Even if it should come down to helping one person or saving one life than it's worth the effort," he said.

FOX 5 reached out to Emory Hospital, which partners with Camasta's surgery center, and representatives are working to coordinate a supply drop-off.