CHENNAI: One volunteer was scanning for ICU beds when a call came through on her phone. It was from a friend. There was no time for courtesies. “A friend called and said this hospital may have an ICU vacant. When I asked ‘how come’, he said ‘my grandfather passed away, I saw your tweet. Call the hospital and ask’.”
This is just one among many stories of death, despair and deprivation that volunteers on Twitter have come across while trying to source beds. With the health infrastructure creaking and government helpline numbers busy 24/7, volunteers, ranging from advertising and marketing professionals and engineers to psychology students, have been moonlighting to troubleshoot SOS calls.
While a fair few requests are successfully resolved, a few cases end in heartbreaks. Here is one narrated by a volunteer whose day job is that of an engineer. “Patient was outside the hospital in the O2 ambulance. I spoke to the caretaker three times. First time for patient details, second time to tell her that bed is getting allotted. During this call, I heard her frantically screaming, ‘yeddelu appa, neeru kudi, beelbeda (wake up dad, drink water, don’t collapse). When I called her for the third time to tell her that the bed was allotted, she told me ‘he passed away’.”
There have been many stories like this, so many that another volunteer, a marketing professional based out of Kerala, turns philosophical. “You often end up on the losing side. But it’s all about picking yourself up and going then.”
With oxygen in short supply, hospitals have not only had to turn down patients but also seek oxygen leads from volunteers. One advertising professional came across six such requests on a single day. It’s also why volunteers are now constantly refreshing their notifications and DMs to keep scanning for requests, even at the cost of their own mental health. “People unconsciously now assume that only way to get a bed is through Twitter,” the advertising professional says. “So if you are not online, you miss out on requests. And it is bad when you see ‘sorry, ma’am, they are no more’.”
But amid all the horrific stories, some feel-good stories still find their way to their DMs. “I have the privilege, reach and bandwidth to do something about it. Each time I get a request, I try to put myself in their shoes for a while. I will think if they were my parent/sibling/loved one. I wouldn’t give up until I found something. I try to do the same here. It brings such joy and relief when one of the leads we find turns out to be legit and they actually help,” the student, who doubles up as a project manager at a content firm, says. Both the engineer and the advertising professional agree in unison.
“The best feelings are the messages on DMs saying ‘thanks, we found a bed’. Those are the absolute best... we would really like to highlight the number of people who have actually got beds, recovered and sent us amazing messages. It’s just wonderful and encouraging.” At the heart of why they continue to do what they continue to do is summed up by the marketing professional. “However little our contributions are, we must keep trying. We aren’t trying to be the government here but if we can help at least one person, that’s a win.”On Thursday night, amid more deaths and despair, they managed to score a few wins.
To amplify via Twitter
Post your message and tag a few of the handles you know that amplifies Covid messages. Some of the handles that amplify messages include the likes of @chetrisunil11. The likes of @darrencaldeira and @ShraddhaSrinath are also amplifying and verifying leads. Some volunteer groups like @ChennaiCares not only amplify but look for beds to help streamline the process and make it easy for the families. If you are from Tamil Nadu, tag @104_GoTN, a government handle created for the purpose of looking for beds.