近日，美國一名醫生遇到了一樁糟心事。本想多買些口罩，竟然經歷了電影大片中的情景：先被聯邦調查局（FBI）盯上，後來又被國土安全部攔截……
網友氣憤地留言，在美國買個口罩搞得像毒品交易一樣，真是奇恥大辱！
參與這場交易的安德魯·阿滕斯坦博士，對美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）訴苦：這就是目前美國醫療系統的現狀。
阿滕斯坦直言，我的職業生涯中，從未遇到過這樣的事，尤其是事關口罩這種相對無害的物品。
1
口罩供不應求
就怕物資被半路“劫道”
據BuzzFeed報道，美國各地的醫院仍舊忙於解決個人防護裝備短缺的問題，各州也在爭搶物資。阿滕斯坦曾在一篇發表於《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》的文章中提到，他的團隊幾周前極度迫切地尋找醫用口罩及N95口罩。
As hospitals across the country continue to deal with shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and states compete for supplies, Artenstein described his team's particularly desperate quest a couple weeks ago to obtain face masks and N95 respirators in an article published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“有些供貨鏈奇怪而複雜，還有許多涉及鉅額資金。”他認為，從某種程度上講，聯邦政府出了高價，他們是被“壓下去”了。
"some bizarre and convoluted, and many involving large sums of money" that fell through after they were "outbid or outmuscled," in some cases, by the federal government…
最終，阿滕斯坦聯繫到一批口罩，儘管定價是平時的5倍，但在醫院亟需防疫物資的情況下，他們也顧不得那麼多。
於是，阿滕斯坦團隊前往交易地點驗貨。
我們必須對口罩進行適合性檢驗，確保它與臉部密合。
Actually you had to fit test them to assure that the seal on the face.
阿滕斯坦表示，驗貨是他們自己提出的，看似有些過度緊張，不過就近期美國物資緊張的情況來看，他甚至想到過這批物資被中途“劫道”的可能性。
但我們甚至想到了，一定要確保這些物資運回麻省，就怕它們會在半道上被劫走。由此可見，目前許多醫療系統和醫院正面臨的處境。
But the fact that we even thought about being able to get this equipment back to Massachusetts and the concern that it could've been redirected at any point along the way just shows you the situation I think that many health systems and hospitals are in.
倉庫裡的物資
就在這時，阿滕斯坦發現，“事情開始變得離奇，甚至可以說更離奇了……”
Here's where things get weird...even weirder.
2
被FBI盯上？
不只我們這一家
阿滕斯坦的團隊與供應商接洽的地點在一間工業倉庫。有兩輛被標記為餐飲運輸車的半掛卡車正等著裝載貨物。之後，兩輛卡車將沿著兩條不同的路線返回北方，“以減少貨物被扣留或被重新寄送的可能性”。
……to meet the supplier at an industrial warehouse. There, two semi-trucks marked as food-service vehicles waited to be loaded before heading back north on two different routes "to minimize the chances that their contents would be detained or redirected."
儘管交易地點如此隱蔽，運貨卡車還被“偽裝”成餐飲運輸車……他們的交易還是被FBI盯上了。
就在驗完貨準備交錢時，兩名FBI探員出現了，並開始審問阿滕斯坦。
But before they could send the payment for the supplies by wire transfer, two FBI agents showed up and started questioning Artenstein.
FBI探員告訴阿滕斯坦，不只他們被監控。
Our understanding is that they told us this wasn't just us.
這是一場涉及全美的行動。
近期，一些報道稱，部分口罩被賣給經銷商並被運到非醫療場所，針對此事，聯邦調查局向全國各地派了多路人馬去查訪。
They were fanning out teams across various parts of the United States in response to some reports apparently that some of this material was going to resellers and to places other than hospitals.
於是，阿滕斯坦向探員們出示了他的證件，並保證，這些面罩是送往醫院的，不是送往黑市出售的。
After showing the agents his credentials and reassuring them that the masks were going to hospitals and weren't meant for the black market, Artenstein said the officials allowed them to proceed and load the PPE into the trucks.
對此，FBI在一則聲明中解釋稱，由於特朗普總統簽署了一項禁止囤積醫療用品的行政命令，該機構一直在調查個人防護裝備的分佈運輸情況，以確保這些裝備沒有被非法出售或是囤積。
In a statement provided to BuzzFeed News, the FBI said that as a result of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump prohibiting the hoarding of medical supplies, the agency has been investigating the distribution of PPE to ensure it is not being illegally sold or hoarded.
阿滕斯坦向CNN主持人坦言：“在我的職業生涯中，這太不尋常了，我從未遇到過這樣的事，尤其是事關口罩這種相對無害的物品。”
…it is distinctively unusual in my experience in the profession to ever have anything like that happened, especially with something as relative benign as masks.
3
國土安全部介入：考慮扣押物資
更令人咋舌的是，剛被FBI放走，阿滕斯坦的物資又遭到了國土安全部的攔截。
阿滕斯坦得知國土安全部正在考慮扣押這批貨物，並將這些個人防護裝備轉移到其他地方。於是，他的團隊給他們在國會的代表、眾議員理查德·尼爾打電話求助。
But then Artenstein said he learned that the Department of Homeland Security was considering seizing the shipment and directing the PPE elsewhere. So his team called their representative in Congress, Rep. Richard Neal, who he said intervened to prevent the federal government from derailing in the deal.
最終，在一系列電話斡旋後，這批物資得到“釋放”。
週二，尼爾在一份聲明中表示：“國土安全部、衛生與公眾服務部的代表們非常合作，他們意識到這批貨物的重要性，也意識到把它們送到醫院的緊迫性。在與他們進行了一系列電話溝通後，這些醫療設備獲釋了。
“After a series of calls with very cooperative representatives from DHS and HHS, who recognized the importance of the shipment and the urgency to get it to the hospital, the PPE was released," Neal said in a statement emailed to BuzzFeed News Tuesday.
CNN主持人坦言，在聽完阿滕斯坦的講述後，“工業倉庫”、“兩輛被偽裝成食品配送車的半掛卡車”、“聯邦調查局”、“國土安全部”這些詞，簡直讓她想到了美劇《黑錢勝地》。
I read your story and I hear "industrial warehouse", "two semis that are mislabeled as food distribution trucks", "the FBI", "the Department of Homeland Security". I don't know if you're a fan of the Netflix show "Ozark", but that's what it sort of called to mind for me.
網友更是忍不住吐槽稱：買個口罩都被FBI監控，這就是美國天天說的自由
購買個人防護裝備搞得像毒品交易。真是奇恥大辱。
FBI如何得知有這筆交易？除非他們在監控著每一個美國人。真是搞砸了。
太瘋狂了。我確信FBI肯定還有更值得做的事兒。
當你的政府像惡棍一樣，一切行為都會變成黑手黨的風格。
還有中國留學生秀了一把優越
與此同時，每一箇中國在美留學生都能收到一包口罩，還有藥品和洗手液……都是免費的。為什麼不能從官方渠道公開從中國購買呢？
4
重啟經濟？難題已迎刃而解？
這想法是錯誤的！
雖然最終阿滕斯坦將這批口罩拿到了手，但他表示，這也只能維持一段時間。
這些口罩夠我們用一段時間，但是長期來看依然不夠。因為我們收治了很多病患，他們需要醫護人員的照料。我們必須保證口罩全新，能起作用。
That'll be enough to sustain us for the short run, not for the long run though. Because there's a lot of patients, and there is a lot of care that goes on, and you need to keep these masks fresh and ensure that they're doing the job.
目前來看，他所在的醫院，新冠肺炎病例數量看似趨於穩定，而且政府官員正在討論重新開放部分經濟領域的計劃，但他認為，獲取充足的個人防護裝備依舊是一個持續存在的問題。
Artenstein said that while the number of COVID-19 cases in Baystate's hospitals appears to have plateaued and as government officials talk about plans to begin reopening parts of the economy, obtaining adequate PPE is an ongoing problem.
他對CNN主持人坦言，現在是前所未有的非常時期，美國的醫療系統幾乎都面臨類似的處境。
說實話，這是前所未有的非常時期。我們必須竭盡所能，保護正在照料病患的團隊成員，這是我們的責任。我想其他醫院或醫療系統也是如此。
And to be totally honest with you, this is unprecedented unusual times. And we have to do what we need to do to protect our team members who are caring for these patients. That's our obligation, and I think we're no different than other hospitals or health systems.
他擔心，“如果認為我們的這些難題已經迎刃而解，這是錯誤的。我可以告訴你們，這些挑戰每天都在繼續，而且我不認為只有我們如此。如果僅僅是我們這樣，那我們就能通過正常的渠道得到獲取醫療設備。”
"It would be improper to think that we have completely resolved these challenges because I can tell you on a daily basis they still continue, and I don't think we're alone in that," he said. "If we were alone, we would be able to get these things ... [and] go through our usual channels."
來源：中國日報
