I am Zach West, fourth year medical student at Emory University School of Medicine. Inspired by a project initiated by fellow medical students across the nation, we are reaching out to recruit health professions students and others who are willing to offer their time to assist Atlanta healthcare workers serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. School closures, shortages of healthcare workers, and travel restrictions have
had unprecedented effects on families in our community, and we as students have
an opportunity to alleviate some of the stress placed on healthcare workers and
their families during this trying time.
Here at Emory, we have created a program where we will pair you with a healthcare worker (HCW) in need of services that may include grocery delivery, pharmacy pick-up, childcare, meal preparation, or pet care. With school closures, there is a vital need for child care so these HCWs can go to work and focus on treating patients. At this time, we have sent surveys to the Emergency Medicine residency and Internal Medicine residency programs for residents to sign up for these services. As of now, we are able to provide for the amount of requests coming in, but we know that the coronavirus and burden on the healthcare system is only going to get worse as the system is stressed and HCWs become sick or need to be quarantined. If you are interested in assisting, please sign up using this form. We have a plan to slowly roll this out to healthcare workers depending on the amount of volunteers we have.
During this unprecedented, stressful time, it is so crucial that we come together as a community to support our healthcare workers. We would love as many students to volunteer as possible, but want to emphasize that there is risk as the HCWs, especially EM workers, may be bringing coronavirus into their home. We also cannot stress enough the importance of following hygiene protocols recommended by the CDC, especially if students will be working in homes of healthcare workers. We need to protect the HCWs as best we can.
Special thanks to Caroline Coleman, Zoe Listernick, Beret Amundson, Isabel Hardee, Taryn DeGrazia, Peyton Hanson, Charles Marvil, and others who have helped set this up. We see this as an amazing opportunity to come together as a community in support of our HCWs. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me at zwest@emory.edu.
Here at Emory, we have created a program where we will pair you with a healthcare worker (HCW) in need of services that may include grocery delivery, pharmacy pick-up, childcare, meal preparation, or pet care. With school closures, there is a vital need for child care so these HCWs can go to work and focus on treating patients. At this time, we have sent surveys to the Emergency Medicine residency and Internal Medicine residency programs for residents to sign up for these services. As of now, we are able to provide for the amount of requests coming in, but we know that the coronavirus and burden on the healthcare system is only going to get worse as the system is stressed and HCWs become sick or need to be quarantined. If you are interested in assisting, please sign up using this form. We have a plan to slowly roll this out to healthcare workers depending on the amount of volunteers we have.
During this unprecedented, stressful time, it is so crucial that we come together as a community to support our healthcare workers. We would love as many students to volunteer as possible, but want to emphasize that there is risk as the HCWs, especially EM workers, may be bringing coronavirus into their home. We also cannot stress enough the importance of following hygiene protocols recommended by the CDC, especially if students will be working in homes of healthcare workers. We need to protect the HCWs as best we can.
Special thanks to Caroline Coleman, Zoe Listernick, Beret Amundson, Isabel Hardee, Taryn DeGrazia, Peyton Hanson, Charles Marvil, and others who have helped set this up. We see this as an amazing opportunity to come together as a community in support of our HCWs. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me at zwest@emory.edu.