I'm a medical student in NJ leading the effort to obtain #PPE for our HCWs. I'm sharing a twitter-diary with my reflections as I learn about leadership, communication, efficiency, teamwork, legalities, tech, engineering, safety practices, & more. #MedStudentvsCovid #COVIDー19
Days 1-3: Three days ago, I was excited at the prospect of indefinite vacationing. I love to sew, so I thought I'd make a few masks. 72 hrs later, I've organized a community of sewers, 100+ 3d printer donors, and student volunteers who have acquired 10k+ masks. Here's how. 1/24
2/ The @njmscovidteam has been remarkable in connecting me w/ semi-public med-student platforms such as slack & group.me, where I looked to see what others were doing. "Shit." No one had mobilized yet in NJ, as we are one of the first states to get hit. What now?
3/ I needed donations sent my way, STAT. I signed up on every donation sourcing website I found: @MedSupplyDrive, project n95, @budmenind, getmePPE, masksfordocs, findthemasks. I didn't pursue out-of-state listings b/c it felt selfish. Mistake? TBD.
4/ Our team already had non-PPE initiatives in place & put me in touch w/ 2 in-house volunteers. First step: develop protocol for community donations incl. template email, supply list, safety control measures, drop-off/pick-up sites. Sent email to admin to establish contact.
5/ Crap, our team went live & volunteers being sent my way. Protocol not ready; volunteers were busy. Should have inquired about time commitment prior to delegating roles. Went to @HomeDepot, @Lowes, & @Staples: they require official letterhead to donate. Contacted admin again.
6/ Pursued all 3d printing leads & googled everything a la "tech 101 for dummies." Met the loveliest donor, went back & forth, made prototypes, & liked the @prusa3d best, but no precedent of use. God, I can't be the right person for this, but we need to move. Let's do it.
7/ To paint a picture: We were 2 adults on a driveway, standing 6+ feet apart, not touching shared materials, evaluating 3d print samples. Made me realize the gravity of the situation. Stopped all volunteers on community-side until safety was addressed. #socialdistancing
8/ NY Gov offering to pay for printers- NEED to act fast to secure our existing NJ donors. Bulk order of PETG in my Amazon cart. Thank god I am broke. Turns out, 1mil ≠ 1mm in tech world. Almost made a $500 mistake. New focus: 1) Recruit help from Tech club, 2) Secure $.
9/ Should have recognized my limitations re: tech literacy & asked for help sooner. Rohan is amazing-recruiting more 3d donors, laser cutters, mass suppliers. Donors now requesting a legal disclaimer before print. Have cc'ed more people on admin side & keep getting redirected.
10/ @BetoORourke RTed @MedSupplyDrive which sent more donors my way. Great idea. Reached out to State rep @AndyKimNJ seeking endorsement. Dead end for legal reasons. Should have communicated a clear "ask." I didn't enter that conversation w/specific goal & wasted both our times.
11/ The 3d printer donors want to start & donors are growing (thx to Rohan), but more people = more pressure to respond. Need suppliers, need money. Learned from my tech mistake; delegated finances to @Themcatguy as it is not my strength. He has it up and running in <24 hours.
12/ Inbox flooded. Calls nonstop. Can't keep up. Advice: Set up designated gmail and google voice from day 1. School still in session virtually; scrambling to finish an assignment. Feedback on it was "This looks rushed." Wake up call: this is gaining momentum & I need to adjust.
13/ A look into my daily workflow so far: Coordinating needs/logistics of existing donors interspersed w/ new volunteers & making executive decisions based on blind faith alone. I think that's allowed in an era where the @CDC offers non-evidenced based guidelines.
14/ And my evening: touching base with 3d printing efforts, webex meetings w/ community acquisition team, & webex w/ overall @njmscovidteam, which is running other initiatives. Too much communication, too much to do, overall "too much." It's only day 2.
15/ Grateful for @thelittlered15 who recognized overwhelming nature of communication overflow and suggested less detailed daily meetings. Grateful for @annieyang912's minutes agenda, which forces me to identify next steps: Legal, Streamlining, and emails -- oh god, emails.
16/ Need legal documentation to move forward or risk losing our donors. Lawyer drafted sample so all we need is a signature. Called & emailed everyone, don't want to be a nuisance. Trying to be sensitive: they're fighting a pandemic. But hey... so are we. We're in this together.
17/ Side note: Social distancing has made faculty work remotely, so I am reliant on emails to move forward. Non-essential businesses are closed, so we are reliant on larger donors who request legal documentation. To those not on state shut down: reach out while you can.
18/ The 4 volunteers on community side are rockstars. Developed a protocol (w/safety in mind), reached out to labs, are making pickups. I connected with an app developer who can pull contact info for all businesses in a specific region. Got 1k gloves and 10k masks. Can breathe.
19/ With outlined protocol & this app, ready to recruit volunteers in a seamless way. Divided 3d print & community efforts for another student to take over community role. Phew. Have delegated all n95 requests to a student to vet for legitimacy before sending to admin.
20/ But have no point-person on purchasing side to submit these requests to, & watching us lose vendors before my eyes. 3d printers happy to print & all set up w/ supplies now, but waiting on legal waiver. Large community donors happy to provide, but waiting for official letter.
21/ And that's where we stand now. It's 7am and I've finally gone thru all my emails. Learning point: I should have replied earlier acknowledging receipt & telling them we are looking into it. It's ok to be honest that you haven't figure it out, but you have to communicate that.
22/ None of this would have been possible without the guidance of @njmscovidteam, our dedicated volunteers, & the AMAZING medical student community at large which has been a wealth of information via open sourcing of ideas & materials. #Students_Against_COVID
23/ In the spirit of collaboration, I'm sharing this transparent account of challenges, frustrations, & successes for other student volunteers who are working to get #PPE at their respective sites, and will share protocols as our team here develops them.
24/ Parting thoughts: in the words of a medical student based in NY: "We have legions of engineers working on incredible problems and creating solutions, but establishing channels w/ decision makers [regarding] non-traditional solutions has been challenging."
