Covid 19 help desk programme was formed under the initiative of NCC, NSS, CEERD , KR Narayanan Study Centre and Health info net of St. Stephens College. A number of students were selected, trained and grouped into eight teams as volunteers of this programme to provide support to the general public. We extended our support to the two grama panchayats namely Veliyannoor and Uzhavoor.
As part of the vaccine registration support service, the volunteers helped the public in registering and scheduling their vaccination dates. Medical support were provided to the public and blood was donated to the needy by student volunteers. We arranged transportation, ventilators and ICUs for the needy as per requirements. Multilingual volunteers helped the migrant workers in understanding the government policies and guidelines regarding COVID 19. Volunteers extended their support to COVID WAR ROOM at Veliyannoor grama panchayat and COVID HELP DESK at Uzhavoor grama panchayat. An awareness session on “covid 19 and role of student volunteers” was held online by Dr. Purushothaman KK, Prof. and HOD, Dept. of paediatrics, Govt. Medical College, Thrissur. A doubt clearance session was arranged for the frontline volunteers and general public of the two gramapanchayats regarding covid 19. A webinar was scheduled on “good mental health” during covid pandemic by Dr. Sivasubrahmoneyi K., Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Govt. Medical College, Trivandrum for public and college students under the council support programme. As a follow up, the needy were given free counseling by expert support from other agencies. Online competitions were also conducted for the students and the public in association with the two grama panchayats to encourage them to involve in creative activities like painting , gardening, designing eco friendly products etc.
The activities of the student volunteers were regularly monitored and improved so as to provide a better service to the public. More than 500 people were benefitted from the vaccine registration support service. Each of our team received on an average of 60 calls per day. We believe that our programme ”koodeyund st. stephens” was helpful to all those people who were in dire need of such a service during this global pandemic.