NSS IITK Volunteers Extend Support to Health Centre: A Collaborative Endeavor

Introduction:

The National Service Scheme (NSS) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) recently launched an initiative where 32 dedicated volunteers offered their assistance at the IITK Health Centre. The initiative aimed to augment the efforts of the Health Centre staff by providing support in various capacities. This report provides an overview of the collaborative endeavour and highlights the invaluable contributions made by the volunteers.

Background:

The IITK Health Centre serves as a vital resource for students, faculty, and staff, offering medical services and promoting well-being within the campus community. However, with increasing demands and challenges, the Health Centre sought additional support to enhance its operations and better serve the IITK community.

Initiative Overview:

The NSS IITK initiative involved recruiting and training volunteers to assist the Health Centre staff with a range of tasks. The volunteers underwent orientation sessions to familiarise themselves with the Centre's operations, confidentiality protocols, and safety measures. The initiative emphasised teamwork, empathy, and commitment to service.

Volunteer Contributions:

The volunteers actively engaged in various tasks to support the Health Centre's functioning. Some of the volunteer activities included:

• All volunteers dedicated 10 hours of service, ranging during the months of September, October, and November.
• Learning how to take temperature, blood pressure (BP), and SpO2 readings in Room 7 and the Vitals Booth.
• Checking and sorting medicines for their expiry dates in the Health Centre Pharmacy.
• Verifying if sufficient medications were in stock.
• Supervised assistance in photocopying at the front desk.
• Cross-verified if patients received the correct number of medicines as mentioned on their copy and updated the same on the computer record.
• Assisted with patient registration at the front desk and printed their slips.
• Aided in scheduling patient appointments with doctors.

Additional Learning Experiences:

Beyond the routine tasks, volunteers gained valuable insights and experiences:

• Familiarization with diagnostic machines.
• Understanding the volume and hecticness of medical work.
• Learning emergency measures such as CPR and first aid.
• Acquiring skills in taking readings from non-digital equipment.
• Understanding the process of writing medical reports.
• Gaining insights into the functioning of the Health Centre.