Miami-Dade County misses out on 1 million N95 masks, blames feds for snagging shipment

Miami-Dade’s emergency arm was close to taking possession of 1 million N95 masks last week, but the shipment was “taken” by the federal government, WLRN reported.

Frank Rollason, Miami-Dade’s director of Emergency Management, described the shipment as “hijacked” by federal authorities during a desperate dash to secure medical-grade masks needed to protect first responders and front-line workers from the spread of COVID-19.

“We were going to meet the plane and actually take them. That’s like gold, you know. But we got the word from the company that they had been taken from the federal government,” Rollason told WLRN.

“I say it was hijacked, because that’s what happened,” he said.

Rollason and the press office for Miami-Dade Emergency Management did not respond to interview requests. The Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue Department, which includes Emergency Management, released a statement that laid out a vague sequence of events related to the sought-after masks.

The N95 masks “were in the process of being secured when the vendor notified MDFR that the product was no longer available,” the statement read. “MDFR was notified by the vendor that they will be attempting to secure another allocation from another one of their 3M partners. According to the vendor, the Federal Government was looking at securing a million masks as well, possibly affecting the order that was on its way to Miami-Dade County.”

The statement noted it could not confirm the “validity” of the federal government landing the masks instead of Miami-Dade, a scenario that’s been the subject of widespread complaints from state and local governments throughout the coronavirus crisis.

In its own statements, FEMA did not address Rollason’s allegation of federal intervention to buy masks headed for the county.

“FEMA is not seizing or taking personal protective equipment (PPE) from state or local governments, hospitals, or any entities who are lawfully engaged in transactions through which these resources are distributed,” the agency said. “FEMA reached out to our contacts at Miami-Dade Fire Department this afternoon. We were told the shipment was never sent to them by the vendor.”

A FEMA spokesperson did not respond to requests for clarification.

The hunt for N95 masks has been a top challenge for Miami-Dade as it races to buy enough supplies to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The county’s transit union is suing to try and force Miami-Dade to provide bus drivers the same kind of N95 masks issued to county police and firefighters.

At a press conference last week, Mayor Carlos Gimenez said his administration regularly asks Florida for more masks.

“We can only give the transport workers what we have,” he said. “We’re constantly asking the state to give us more. But a lot of those masks are being prioritized for our first responders, our fighters, our police officers and hospital personnel that are dealing with these patients.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 9:36 AM.