MOSCOW, November 25. / TASS /. About 1 thousand medical volunteers have taken part in the #WeTogether campaign since its start in the capital. Now in hospitals and clinics in Moscow, more than 200 volunteers are helping medical workers, Dmitry Pokrovsky, director of the Mosvolonter resource center, told TASS on Wednesday.
"Medical volunteers were among the first among the volunteer community to fight the pandemic. From the very first days, the team of the Moscow regional department of" Medical Volunteers "mobilized students of medical universities, offering to provide all possible assistance to senior colleagues - doctors and medical staff of healthcare institutions who received patients Since the start of the campaign, we have registered 1,000 medical volunteers, and now more than 200 are helping in Moscow institutions, "Pokrovsky said.
He added that Mosvolonter has repeatedly published stories about volunteers who were on the front lines during the pandemic on their social networks. "It is impossible to forget the photographs in which the tired but satisfied faces of volunteers with deep marks from protective masks and glasses. I believe that these are real heroes of our time. And we are proud that today we are together and all are Moscow volunteers," Pokrovsky added …
According to the press service of the resource center, many of the medical volunteers have been providing continuous assistance to doctors and patients for about eight months.
About the difficulties of work
The press service of "Mosvolonter" added that the volunteers of the capital are involved in helping the medical complex in Kommunarka, the Vinogradov Clinical Hospital, the Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine, the Children's Traumatology and Orthopedic Hospital, and city polyclinics.
City Hospital 40 in New Moscow remains one of the main places for the fight against coronavirus infection. There, as in other institutions, since the end of March, medical volunteers, together with doctors, have been fighting for the lives of patients. Among the first volunteers who responded to the call of the medical staff for help was the activist of the Moscow regional branch of "Volunteers-doctors" Vladimir Nikolsky, a second year student of the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry. A. I. Evdokimova. In two months, he provided about 450 hours of volunteer assistance at a hospital in Kommunarka.
"Working in PPE is very difficult. Glasses constantly fog up, respirators are stuffy, thirsty, and two or three pairs of gloves create inconvenience when performing procedures. But when you look at doctors who do not leave their workplaces for days, all our inconveniences went to the second, and then on the third plan, "- he told TASS.
According to Nikolsky, during the time he was helping doctors, he learned some life hacks that help to facilitate finding in such equipment. For example, to prevent the glasses from fogging up, they can be pre-treated with soap or ultrasound gel.
"During the pandemic, the number of critically ill patients was actively growing. I helped in the intensive care unit, where time is measured not in minutes, but in seconds, where everything works like a clock," Nikolsky added. "I was lucky to become a part of this mechanism. There was not a single person who would tell me that I was too young and would send me to another department. Each staff member tried to share with me their rich experience of working with intensive care patients."
He added that words cannot describe the delight when you can talk to a patient whose life was hanging in the balance a few days ago.
At the moment, Vladimir Nikolsky continues to help the hospital as volunteers of the #WeVotag campaign. In addition, he is the coordinator of the movement of medical volunteers at the N. V. N. V. Sklifosovsky. Under his leadership, more than 40 volunteers help doctors and patients in the hospital every day.
"Red zone"
During a pandemic, medical volunteers are involved not only in admissions and intensive care units, but also in the "red" zones. For example, Maxim Suchkov, a volunteer and sixth year student of the First Medical named after I. M. Sechenov, has been helping in Kommunarka hospital since the beginning of the pandemic.
“In my opinion, the“red zone”is a place of the highest medical technologies and professionalism. And confidence in modern PPE allowed me to realize my choice. At the moment, during the second wave, every day in the hospital, I am engaged in coordinating the help of volunteers. I distribute the workforce and send people according to the needs, which are formed daily by the departments and management of the hospital, Suchkov told TASS.
According to him, the experience of the spring allowed him to understand well the structure of the hospital, which helps to quickly navigate. "At the moment, volunteers do not perform medical or nursing manipulations, their activities are focused on administrative activities in the" green "zone and helping doctors in the" red ". For example, interviewing patients, assistance in registering tests, maintaining and filling out forms, transporting biomaterials, - said Suchkov.
He added that the help of volunteers is still in the same demand as in the spring.
