It is like any other day for Vishranti Jadhav. After finishing her daily chores, she heads for work. She is a teacher at Ketkipada BMC School in Borivali. COVID-19 has completely changed her life and the way she used to teach kids.

But what remained the same was the josh, the temperament and the dedication to influence people’s lives in a better way.

Hence she, along with 500+ other civic teachers, joined hands together to fight the deadly coronavirus in her own way!

“I cannot find a bed for a patient!”
“Help us locate an ICU bed!”
“Where can I get the vaccine near my residence?”

These are some of the queries the 45-year-old comes across nowadays. And as mentioned, she is not the only one.

As of this writing, 547 civic school teachers across the city are working at BMC’s war rooms to assist COVID-19 patients!!

As the summer vacation has already started for schools, all the civic teachers have been assigned to COVID-19 related work.

These teachers are working under the guidance of medical and administrative professionals and are generally the first point of contact between COVID-19 patients and the healthcare system. And they are responsible for everything — from managing angry and hopeless citizens to pacifying struggling patients and their families to responding to calls filled with gratitude — they are responsible for acknowledging every single call.

“Some of the calls really shook us, especially when the callers would almost beg to locate an ICU bed for their loved ones, and we were helpless. We were noting down all requirements and connecting them with vacant places wherever possible,” said Priya Sawant, another civic teacher from Ashokwan Municipal School in Borivali.

“The wife tested positive, but since she had absolutely no symptoms, the doctor asked the couple to remain home-quarantined. The woman was really stressed after knowing all other things happening around, and her husband asked me to talk to her to calm her down. I was tense thinking if I would really help her calm down, but after speaking to her, she felt relieved,” said Vishranti Jadhav, who did not fail to provide mental support to her callers.

“This was a completely different experience where we felt a great sense of social connection as we helped callers meet their needs or resolve their Covid-19 disease or vaccine-related queries!”

said another teacher, Krishna Yadav.

“They have the experience of handling a class full of children from different psychological backgrounds, and it has really helped at COVID-19 war rooms. A total of 547 teachers are appointed to do this work,” said BMC’s education officer, Mahesh Palkar.

In a city that is one of the most active hotspots of COVID-19, several teachers are working every single day without expecting anything in return. They are posted in the war rooms for a 15-day duty chart on rotation for almost four to five hours daily.

There is something called ‘going beyond work calls’, and these teachers are going beyond their assigned roles every day. In a time when people are struggling for a hospital bed and world’s most common chemical, oxygen, even an “everything will be fine” sounds nothing less than a bright light!

A warm tribute and salute to these people who we do not really think about in our daily lives — every bit matters — and every story deserves to be heard! #CovidWarriors

ALSO READ: Meet the samaritans providing meals to needy and COVID-19 patients for free!

While the first wave of the pandemic posed new challenges to the healthcare infrastructure in the year 2020, the second wave is only causing more havoc in India. The number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has soared in the country in the last few weeks. 

There is an acute shortage of medical oxygen, ambulances, hospital beds and now, plasma donors. Moreover, the demand for plasma has increased manifold.

Many people are contributing their best to help people who are affected by COVID-19. We see children raising funds to provide oxygen cylinders who are in need. We hear stories about autorickshaws being converted to ambulances. 

Meanwhile, the following is the story of a man who has donated plasma 9 times, thus saving the lives of 18 patients affected due to coronavirus. Pankaj Gupta, 46-years-old is a native of Kota town in Rajasthan.

 

Pankaj’s body is constantly producing antibodies. He would continue to donate plasma as long as his body produces antibodies. To continue donating the plasma, Pankaj has still not received the vaccination shot. He is willing to keep donating plasma as he understands people’s pain. 

Many have applauded Pankaj for his contribution during these difficult times and proved there is still hope. 

A lot of us listen to these requests every day;  “Urgent ambulance requirement”, “Urgent oxygen requirement”, “In need of Remedisivir for a patient who is critical”. Some of these requests are so common that it has become a part of our daily routines, similar to how we scroll Instagram every morning when we wake up. 

We hear the tales of ambulances charging Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 to carry the patients and their families to the hospital, even when it involves a shorter distance. 

It is merely impossible for some of the families to afford such a huge amount for a shorter distance. Some of them do make the upfront payment simply because they stand no choice. 

To help such COVID patients who are in dire need of emergency care, a Bengaluru-based NGO has offered a remedy to the rescue: converting old Omni vans into ambulances. 

“Drive Without Borders (DWB)” has come up with a plan to convert the old Omni vans into ambulances with an in-built stretcher and two oxygen cylinders. The services provided will be free of cost. 

“The entire process of conversion took a week. We want to add at least another 10 more such ambulance shortly”, the founder of DWB Mr. Waseem Memom said. 

Pandemics are complex emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly agrees to it. What started as a health emergency, has now extended to humanitarian crises. Political, economical, and psychological systems are at the tip of the iceberg. 

When bad things happen, we believe that we would do whatever necessary to change the situation. With the COVID-19 cases rising each day in India, we are observing a widespread shortage of ambulances to ferry patients along with their families to the hospitals. A lot of them are unable to afford an ambulance as the operators charge exorbitant rates. 

Memom has been volunteering since the pandemic started. The rush and dedication to providing help to the needful only improved over the time in his case. 

“You get an Omni van for Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 and spares are available at a cheaper price. An imported stretcher would cost around Rs 35,000, cylinders for about Rs 10,000, welding charges, a siren, and the RTO charges. Overall, it comes up to about Rs 1.25 lakh per ambulance,” said Memom.  

The target is to operate 10-11 ambulances in case of emergencies around Bengaluru city. For doing so, Memom has decided to raise funds of Rs 12.5 lakh to remodel the old Omni vans.

Memom also explained how these Omni vans will be donated to charitable hospitals for future use. He has also eyed school van drivers who are unemployed due to the pandemic. 

Memom added, “we have always felt it our primary duty to provide whatever assistance we can in times of a humanitarian crisis”. The organization is also accepting donations from whosoever wishes to donate. 

Let us not give a chance to be blamed for being injustice towards humanity once normalcy is restored and we are back to where our country was before the pandemic started. These are our heroes who are rescuing people when they are helpless and let us make them proud by sharing their story!!!