Thread by @drgregkelly

How me and 25 000 of my friends helped to save our country from #COVID19

And how you can too (a thread)👇

Obvious to all Europe, US & many others facing enormous 2nd waves of #COVID19

We know what works. 1. Lockdowns buy time 2. Limit transmission 3. Contact tracing 4. Protect HCWs

It works - Victoria absolutely crushed big 2nd wave & has had 2 weeks of ZERO community transmission

You health care workers know this. You are screaming it. But how do you get the decision makers to listen?

A -You ORGANIZE

1 voice is not a story, it's too easy to dismiss

1000 HCW voices is a story

10 000 voices can shape THE story

People listen b/c HCWs don't often speak

Free technology makes it easy to do

1. Find a gang (diverse & open)
2. Write open letter SUPPORTING gov taking strong action on #COVID19
3. Use Google forms to collect signatures of HCWs or Drs (not general public)
4. Use this support to apply private & public (media) pressure

We did this in Australia to build a small but diverse, adaptable & active group of core HCWs & then collect 25 000 signatures of our colleagues around the country

People & media listened. Gov listened. We changed a LOT of things

No funding. Some got permission to speak to media

Defs not perfect. We got pushback & we / Australia made mistakes++

But - we are looking to 2021 w optimism & hope. <1000 deaths of 25 million pop. Zero community transmission. Businesses open.

Part of our success is b/c our healthcare workers found their voices & spoke TOGETHER

So if you are a HCW screaming into abyss & just desperately want someone to listen - try it

Happy to share strategy & resources in more detail, just comment below. Can make more detailed how-to

PS. We're aware that we could yet stuff it up & we require constant vigilance!

3 page document on what we actually did with the Google forms that you can copy and use

docs.google.com/document/d/1o3…

Early on, we bypassed our professional societies who were downplaying threats & even telling us to shut up

It took socs months to catch up. Too slow if your house is on fire

It is hard to act w uncertainty, but our group of 20 +thousands of HCW signatories was wind at our backs

We did 3 open letters over 4 months, each time using emails from first to grow signatories

Once gov took threat srsly we pivoted to HCW protections, gathering 1000s of real life stories of inadequate PPE to feed to media to contradict official narrative that 'all was fine'

Some members eventually made a website to host stories & resources & to speak directly to media and public. It will be really useful for the coming phases but YOU can start without it!

healthcareworkersaustralia.com

Find like-minded ppl

Don't wait for permission or certainty

Listen to critics, including those w/in healthcare, & do it anyway

Don't be dissuaded by ppl telling you they're expert & you're not - no one has total expertise about #COVID-19, & as frontline HCW your voice matters