Victorian nurses on the front line of the fight against COVID-19 are getting a little extra help from self-isolated Anglesea retiree Deb Elliot.
Deb is co-ordinating Helping our Hospital Heroes Australia, encouraging people to make hats for nurses to wear while at work.
“We’ve delivered 500 so far of 1000 we’ve committed to Royal Melbourne Hospital,” the 66-year-old said.
A friend from Sunbury Rotary Club phoned Deb to coordinate the efforts online after she returned from New Zealand on March 19 – five days earlier than initially planned, she explained.
Her Facebook page has attracted more than 550 members since she set it up last Thursday.
“It’s gone exponential,” she said.
“People have done their initial ten [hats] and have come back and asked, ‘can I do more?’”
Deb said the initiative gave people who are feeling “frightened” and “helpless” a chance to help health professionals fight the coronavirus.
She said co-ordinating the efforts gave her similar “purpose” during her precautionary self-isolation and was the “perfect” use of her 40 years’ experience in IT.
“There was nothing I could do to control the situation so I just picked it up and ran with it. I reached out to everyone I know and said, ‘can you help me?’”
“I’ve made ten and I’ve got another 24 to make.”
The hats are carefully cleaned before distribution and are intended to complement existing personal protection equipment for nurses, not replace it, Deb explained.
She said hair was a vulnerable area and that the hats helped nurses, especially those with long hair, protect their families by preventing them taking the virus home after work.
“Nurses do not normally wear hats on the wards [but] they wish to now as they have been informed that the virus can remain on surfaces for up to four days,” she said.
