How the Red Cross acted quickly in Italy

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As we move in to a world of living with Covid-19 in the long term, we can reflect on some of the great work people did right at the beginning of the pandemic, and how data and speed were imperative to saving lives. 

At the height of it all, from March 1 to April 30, the Italian Red Cross and its 25,000 volunteers mobilized 6,000 active ambulances, conducting 1,227 outpatient services, and making 10,549 supermarket deliveries to vulnerable people in quarantine in Lombardy. That’s no mean feat so we wanted to understand more about how large numbers of people collaborated quickly and safely. 

"Sharing accurate information is critical in stopping the spread of this virus." —Alberto Salvaneschi. That’s as true today as it was in the beginning of the pandemic, and the longer we live with Covid-19, the more important it will be to track and share data on how to manage public health. 

As part of Dropbox’s NGO product donation program during COVID-19, we’re proud to have donated licenses for the whole Lombardy Red Cross operational team. Sharing things such as video files, infographics, data or recommendations in a word document quickly, and with the right people, can make a big difference in preventing the spread of a viral disease.

“We’re trying to communicate as best as we can the most important news, from experts and teams who have studied this information. The information we spread is written by our medical team, composed by doctors, nurses, and specialized operators. We use Dropbox to share those among our team, and then on social media and our website. It’s all much simpler and faster now.”

Of course, Salvaneschi and his team have had to adjust to working remotely, with collaborators in Rome, Milan, and throughout Lombardy.

“At the beginning, it was very hard to not be all together and discuss face to face,” he says. “We’re trying to stay connected and productive with technology, so we don’t lose time. An instrument like Dropbox is a very important thing because it enables us to be connected to volunteers and people on the front lines. So it is not just a connection for things like documents, but about the connection between people.”

In a time when the rest of the world was getting used to online alternatives to work or their social lives, the Red Cross team were doing the same thing, but to help keep people healthy and try to minimize the impact of this virus. 

The Red Cross has continued to share their information across Lombardy to continue to support people in need as they come out of lockdown, beyond those they have already helped. This will help play a critical role in public safety as life attempts to get back to normal.

To learn more about the Italian Red Cross, watch the video below or check out their website here.