The UDHAVI helpline was developed to leverage medical and community health expertise to better coordinate pandemic response efforts that were hampered by resource constraints.

The helpline raised callers' awareness of government quarantine guidelines, gave information on vaccination and testing, provided medical advice, offered psychological support and counseling to allay fears, and arranged transport of patients and supplies.

The majority of helpline callers requested medical advice, including on vaccinations, pregnancy, COVID-19 transmission, risks, and drug interactions. The counseling line received the fewest calls.

The outcome of the helpline initiative is an integrated partnership model for emergency response that can be used in the event of any public health emergency.

Our experiences in helpline establishment and management would be helpful to health care facilities should they choose to follow the UDHAVI helpline set-up process or improve the capacity of an existing helpline as an integrated partnership model for future community response to pandemic or endemic situations.

In April 2021, during the peak of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, hospitals overflowed with COVID-19 patients, and people hesitated to seek necessary care due to fear of contracting the disease. The UDHAVI helpline was set up by a tertiary care hospital in Vellore with the help of district administration, nongovernmental organizations, and various supporting agencies to provide general information, medical advice, counseling, and logistics support to the community.

This is a retrospective study of all the phone calls made to the UDHAVI helpline between mid-May and mid-June 2021 during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The calls were electronically captured as part of the process, and the information was subsequently retrieved and analyzed.

In all, 677 calls were received. The lines for general information, medical advice, counseling, and logistics support received 168 (25%), 377 (56%), 15 (2%), and 117 (17%) calls, respectively. Home care kits, oxygen concentrators, and food were delivered by volunteers from local nongovernmental organizations and hospitals.

We believe the details of our experience would be useful in the preparedness and mobilization of resources in the event of any public health emergency. As a result of this initiative, we propose an integrated partnership model for emergency response to any pandemic situation.

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