Medical TV dramas such as Grey's Anatomy are donating equipment including masks, gowns and gloves to emergency workers tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

The shows are emptying their prop rooms of materials that are in increasingly short supply as the rapid spread of the disease threatens to overwhelm resources.

Grey's Anatomy, a long-running ABC show, has "a backstock of gowns and gloves which we are donating," said executive producer Krista Vernoff.

Firefighter drama Station 19, from the same network, donated around 300 masks to the Ontario Fire Department in Canada after learning they were running out and fire stations were forced to re-use masks.

"They were tremendously grateful," said Vernoff.

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Another popular ABC medical drama, The Good Doctor, shoots in Vancouver, where it has handed over hundreds of masks, gowns, disposable booties and isolation suits.

Karen Law, an Atlanta-based rheumatologist, posted an image on Instagram of medical supplies outside the Grady Memorial Hospital, thanking Fox show The Resident for the donation.

"Yesterday, I had a serious discussion with the residents about how, though supplies are low, a magical shipment of masks is unlikely to arrive," she wrote.

"And yet, a magical shipment of masks DID arrive."