"The health of the medical staff, to whom we are extremely grateful for their extraordinary willingness to work to the limit, is essential for successful crisis management. This is why coordinated and, above all, functioning procurement channels for medical equipment are indispensable."

In Lower Saxony, the procurement of protective equipment is coordinated centrally by the state. Klingebiel explains: "For the city of Salzgitter, I have declared the health department to be responsible for determining requirements. It checks the requirements for protective equipment from companies, facilities and the healthcare sector. After checking, it requests the emergency requirements for protective equipment for Salzgitter directly from the state of Lower Saxony via an emergency administrative assistance request."

Facilities can request this protective equipment using a form. This can be downloaded from the Salzgitter city website at www.salzgitter.de and must be sent to the health department by fax or post. Please note that the sender's contact details (especially telephone and e-mail) must be legible and complete.

The public health department will then request the protective equipment required for Salzgitter directly from the state of Lower Saxony and make it available to those affected.