
March 21, 2020
How to Support Healthcare Workers Now (Plus Urgent Suggestions for Uber Eats, Hilton, Amazon, and More) | The Tim Ferriss Show
Check out The Tim Ferriss Show Episode Page & Show Notes
Key Takeaways
- Support healthcare workers. They need our help now more than ever. Give them thanks. Buy them food. Do what you can. A little goes a long way.
Intro
- Tim Ferriss (@tferriss) has been in quarantine with his girlfriend & dog for the past 4 weeks
- “I expect next week [Tim recorded this episode on Friday, March 20th] to be an exceptionally difficult week for many people and many cities—NYC chief among them” – Tim Ferriss
Thank Healthcare Workers
- If you’re healthy and listening to this podcast (or reading these notes) you likely owe something to a healthcare worker
- But the sad fact is: although healthcare workers are incredibly important, we ignore until we need them
- If the United States wants to defeat COVID-19, we MUST protect the healthcare workers on the front line
- Doctors, nurses, x-ray techs, physician assistants, cleaning staff—they’re all making incredible sacrifices right now
Healthcare Workers Need Temporary Housing
- Why? So they can rest (instead of commute) and not be forced to go home and infect their families
- Companies doing good work (Tim requests readers/listeners reach out and thank them/encourage them to do more):
- Airbnb has been experimenting in Italy with offering temporary housing (hopefully they continue this in the U.S.)
- Hilton Hotels is planning on doing similar
Healthcare Workers Need Food
- Sweetgreen is delivering free meals to healthcare workers
- Uber Eats has committed to provide 300k+ meals to healthcare workers and first responders, BUT it’s not clear how healthcare workers can take advantage of the offer
- “So, Uber Eats, please make it clearer, on your Twitter account and elsewhere, how people can take advantage of this” – Tim Ferriss
How Amazon Can Help Healthcare Workers
- Amazon can (and should) create gift cards restricted to protective equipment
- One could then purchase a gift card and give it to their local hospital/emergency room
How you can help…
- Tim plans to create a separate email list composed of people interested in organizing different types of help
- Go here and add your email for updates
- Paul Graham just donated to $1 MM to flexport.org—a donation large enough to pay for almost all of the protective gear required by San Francisco’s front line healthcare workers
- If your city is short on personal protective equipment, reach out to Ryan Peterson, the CEO of Flexport
The Ventilator Shortage
- Many United States cities are likely to face ventilator shortages, just like Italy
- While the U.S. is busy manufacturing ventilators, healthcare workers must be aware of the technique one can use for modifying a ventilator, enabling a single device to work on 2 (or 4) people—check out Tim’s blog post for more info
Wrapping Up
- “We’re going to get through this … Right now, if you’re able, it’s the time to be a generous lifeguard, not a selfish drowning person” – Tim Ferriss
- If you’re having trouble paying for food or bills, head to findhelp.org
- EVERY small act goes a long way. Healthcare workers are being maxed out. Even a “thank you” can be incredibly meaningful.
- We NEED our healthcare workers rested, adequately fed, and able to continue fighting. We ALL depend on them.