Haven't had a day like yesterday - trying to get dad a bed/oxygen/tests, etc taught me so much about the situation that just volunteering/amplifying didn't

There are certain lessons and tricks to this tragedy.
Sharing a thread - in case it helps someone running around for help!

Finding help - Put the message out! Twitter, WhatsApp, Insta. Wherever you think you will be heard.

Even if you think you know the resources, you need brute force of a crowd.

It's easier to validate leads and reject/accept before even calling when there's a group at work!

Following the leads -

Divide and conquer. Split a long list among 5-6 people who make calls. Everyone should have the same level of detail.

Make an easy-to-consume WhatsApp text with patient history, stats and location and distribute it liberally.

Managing duplicates -

Lots of people/tweets will have the same people, same numbers. Start seeing patterns and if you spot the same list being shared everywhere, it's likely to be very outdated/irrelevant.

A bed/cylinder is flying out in less than 5 minutes. Discard faster!

Getting medicines:

Medicines are tricky. Availability will change every minute. You need to call up local pharmacies and ask. Don't go for big chains like Apollo etc because they have crowds and tend to run out faster.

Also, smaller vendors are also likely to help more.