GMCH alumni donate PPE kits, masks to resident doctors

Nagpur: When resident doctors, who are front-line warriors against Covid-19 in government hospitals, faced shortage of protective gear like PPE kits and masks, their seniors came forward to support them and resolved the issue in a few days.
Unofficially named as ‘Chain of kindness’, this unique initiative was started in Nagpur GMCH through the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD). It is now being replicated in other GMCs across the state. Till date, four batches of GMCH ex-students have donated PPE kits, N95 masks and sanitizers worth Rs15 lakh to their juniors. Many more batches are gearing up for similar donation.
“State government and our administration are procuring more PPE kits and masks, but looking at the increase in number of patients in Nagpur, there is always a scope for more. The idea of ‘Chain of Kindness’ was conceived by ex-students from GMCH 2005 batch. Soon, it was picked up by four more batches and we ended up getting massive amount of PPE kits and masks,” said Dr Mukul Deshpande, president of MARD at GMCH.
Dr Ankush Zode, a 2005 alumnus of GMCH and currently a pathologist at super speciality hospital in Amravati, shared how it all began. “Just four days ago, after completing my Covid duty, I got a call from my junior and ex-MARD president Dr Ashutosh Jadhav. He informed that most of our GMC residents were performing duty without proper protection. It all started there,” he said.
The big question for the seniors was how to contact the batch of 200-plus settled in different parts of India and abroad.
“We had a WhatsApp group where primarily inconclusive political debates would be held and most of the members remained inactive. I started with a message ‘Our GMC and juniors need us’ and within a few moments, got replies from most inactive members,” he said. This batch collected Rs1.5 lakh within a day.
“Region, religion or politics, none of it can bind us together. Only thing that brought us together is GMCH, Nagpur. It’s our emotion and we all proud to be a part it,” he said.
Other batches too got inspired and now GMCH residents are flooded with donations from former students. The ‘Chain of kindness’ is forming a strong bonding between the juniors and former students.
WHO DONATED WHAT
GMCH batch | donation
2005 | 100 unsterile kits, 20 sterile kits, 200 N95 masks
2007 | 125 PPE kits, 400 masks
2008 | 100 PPE kits, 400 masks and 2 sanitizer dispensers
2009 | 200 PPE kits, 400 masks
2010 | raising funds for Smart OPD