Community Involvement: COVID-19 Coffee
During the global COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020, RK Law supported frontline medical workers in their local area of Rockhampton. What started as a donation of 100 coffees for hospital staff turned into countless hours of volunteering to keep the caffeine flowing. RK Law’s principal lawyer Rowan King, alongside the Calvary Church team, volunteered to man the free coffee station on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 8pm-11pm.
Reflections from Rowan
We are so lucky to have such amazing frontline staff in Central Queensland and I have enjoyed connecting with them. You can easily take for granted the significance of the stress our nurses and doctors deal with day-to-day on a shift, external to COVID-19.
For example, I spoke to one medical staff member who looked exhausted on one of the nights. They told me that during the shift the night before, they attempted to resuscitate a person. They tried for a number of hours but could not save the patient. That happened right at the end of the shift. The medical staff member got home and due to the adrenaline, they could not sleep. They eventually got a few hours before getting the scrubs back on and getting onto the next patient. They had shared thoughts such as “could I have done something better to save the patient?”. A double shot was in order. It was clear that burden that staff member was carrying was huge!
If a lawyer makes a mistake, and the magistrate makes a bad call due to the lawyer’s error, it will go on appeal and get fixed. There may be some inconvenience, but at the end of the day, no one died!
This volunteering has reminded me to be thankful for our front-line medical staff (including the cleaners, wardies, and security) not just during COVID, but at all times. It has also reminded me not to sook when I have a bad day at work!
Also, a special thanks to Calvary Rockhampton who organise the coffee cart and provide the coffees.
