Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As the second wave of corona spread in the city and people were asking for oxygen, CT scans, ambulances, injections, specific medicines, doctors’ consultancy and plasma banks, a fire safety engineer came forward to help.
Saiem Khan, 26, a fire safety engineer by training, a businessman by profession and a social activist by choice, decided to step in to fill the void.
Instead of answering questions only through words, he decided to answer them through videos, which he uploaded on Instagram. “This made it more useful,” he told Free Press.
For instance, he would go to a CT scan centre, shoot the place and record a brief conversation with the person about timings, when the centre remains open, the charges, how long the procedure takes etc.
Similarly, he made videos on wholesalers of medicines and medical equipment in the city - their location, timings, rates and whether there is home delivery. Same was done for oxygen. “I was the first to make a video on BHEL arranging to refill oxygen cylinders for free,” he said.
As a fire safety engineer, Khan knows about gases and cylinders and he used that knowledge to post a video on how to attach a flow meter to an oxygen cylinder and how to use it.
Similarly, he posted videos on what to do if an 108 ambulance service is not available, from where can one arrange a simple ambulance, an ambulance with oxygen or an ambulance with a ventilator? What are the charges for the different kinds of services, are they available 24X7 and so on. Also, he provides information about the location of plasma banks in the city through videos.
Khan, who lives in Idgah Hills area, says that he began shooting and uploading videos from the day the lockdown-2 started in the city and has, so far, posted more than 20 videos. He says his videos have received one lakh views and he used to get about 300 calls every day from the viewers seeking more information.
Every day, he left his place at 9 am, wearing a PPE kit. “I used my personal car. I shot videos and then edited and uploaded them sitting in the car,” he says.
“The most challenging part was moving around wearing a PPE kit in hot weather and that too, when I was observing roza during Ramadan and could not drink water,” he said. Another problem was barricaded roads, which forced him to take long routes.
Khan says he spends 10% of his income on social service. “During last lockdown, we distributed 3,000 food packets and 400 milk packets every day,” he added.
At present, he is busy making a video on how to get benefit of Ayushman Bharat scheme. “I am giving details about who is eligible, from where to get a form, which documents are needed etc,” Khan said.
