CHENNAI: On most days, Twitter is all that’s wrong with the internet: anonymous trolls, homophobic posts, people out to make a quick buck through duplicitous means and racists. Over the last few weeks though, several Indians have used Twitter as a platform to launch one of the country’s biggest SOS campaigns to help people get all the assistance they need to survive this second wave of Covid-19.
It has ranged from helping people source oxygen cylinders, remdesivir vials, ICU beds, home-cooked food for isolated patients. With normal lines of communication creaking under enormous stress — Covid-19 control rooms have only so many people they can speak to at a time and waiting for already overburdened hospital staff to address phone lines is a no-no as oxygen saturation levels drop without warning — the social media space has proved to be life-saving for several patients.
Reuters reported of one such case a week ago. “Serious #covid19 patient in #Delhi with oxygen level 62 needs immediate hospital bed,” a user posted. The user posted this on the micro-blogging website on the morning of April 16. Based on one of the leads, the person found a bed eight hours later. “It was help online that worked as people responded with information,” she was quoted as saying by the news agency.
That’s why more and more people, including doctors at leading hospitals, have turned to the medium. How it works is simple enough. After a person verifies information, they post it on their handle (with the likes of actor Shraddha Srinath and former cricketer Wasim Jaffer amplifying requests, Twitter’s reach is an added bonus). For example, if a person is after oxygen, people, including volunteer driven communities like The Product Group, start looking for suppliers who have medical oxygen with them. Once that information is sourced and verified, the two parties are introduced to each other either offline or they are tagged on Twitter.
It’s also played a big role in connecting critically ill people with the likes of Hemkunt Foundation, an ‘NGO that aims to provide humanitarian aid to marginalised sections of society’, according to their website. After asking for donations to make it possible, they arranged ‘Drive Thru #O2ForYou, an initiative to distribute free unlimited oxygen to Covid19 patients while being in cars itself. We have tents available for critical patients,’ they posted on their handle.
On Monday night, one volunteer was urgently seeking an oxygen-supported bed for an individual in Delhi. Another volunteer quietly gave them a link about the opening of a few beds in a hospital. That information was passed on to the patient’s attender. Thus begins another cycle of crucial information sharing on Twitter.
Useful resources
Websites
https://external.sprinklr.com
https://linktr.ee/handy_covid_resources
https://indiacovidresources.in/
Handles
@TheProductfolks
@Hemkunt_Fdn