Oxygen Concentrators and BiPaP Ventilators Ambulances
💰 AUD 2Mn raised
😷 10,000+ patients served
📦 881 units delivered
🏥 79 districts served
With the help of donations received, we have been able to deliver 881 units of Oxygen Concentrators and BiPaP ventilators to 79 Districts across India (as shown in Blue in the map below).
Our goal was to deliver medical oxygen equipment to serve 10,000+ patients in districts/ cities in India which are beyond the spotlight of the mainstream media.
We are a team of Indians 🇮🇳 from across the 🌎 with a belief that each one of us can a make difference. We sourced medical grade oxygen concentrators, ventilators and other oxygen equipment from across the world, delivered these to the identified districts/cities in India and ensured it was deployed well.
India doesn't have a shortage of medical grade liquid oxygen (LOX). The problem was last mile logistics of getting breathable oxygen to patients.
The oxygen concentrators we delivered are being used especially for mild to moderate cases, and take load off of critical care facilities so these can focus on moderate to severe cases.
The districts we delivered the units to had been personally identified, vetted and were primarily outside the media spotlight and in need of supplies.
The units will be shipped to India in three phases. Owing to the production bottlenecks in the supply chain, we are only able to source these units in batches. We started by shipping 15 units in Phase 1, 100 units in Phase 2 and 750 units in Phase 3. We hope the situation normalises as more people get vaccinated. But just looking at the sheer number of cases right now, we feel there might be an ongoing need of these units.
Quantity: 15 units (OCs + BiPaPs)
Districts: 3
Cost: AUD 30,000
Quantity: 100 units (OCs + BiPaPs)
Districts: 12
Cost: AUD 120,000
Quantity: 750 units (OCs + BiPaPs)
Districts: 62
Cost: AUD 1,000,000
Quantity: 881 units
Districts: 79
Cost: AUD 1,200,000
Within a span of 55 days, Team MOfA raised A$2M in donation, and delivered 881 units of Oxygen Concentrators and BiPaP ventilators to 79 districts in India.
Tirbin, Lepa Rada, Arunachal Pradesh
<aside> 📣 *The Lepa Rada district is a part of Arunachal Pradesh, the north-eastern most state in India. Apart from being situated in one of the remotest corners of the country, Lepa Rada is one of the newest districts in the state, created in 2018. Most newly created districts struggle with ramping up public health infrastructure, as they compete with bigger administrative units for resources.
At about 10:20pm on 10th June, the MOfA team received a late night SOS from district circle officer, Dr. Hage Atho. Alarmed at the high incidents of COVID-19 positive cases in his circle (Tirbin), inadequate oxygen capacity and no local COVID-19 vaccination centre, Dr. Atho requested MOfA team to urgently send Oxygen Concentrators (OC). He urged how even a single OC could make a difference and save lives.
Within 24 hours of receiving his request, the MOfA team had placed orders for units to be airlifted from Beijing. Over the next 96 hours, the units landed in Delhi, were cleared for paperwork at the airport, then transported via a 4 hour domestic flight to Guwahati. From there, after an 11 hour ride through some of the roughest, most flood prone areas in the region, 20 units reached Dibrugarh, a major logistics and transport hub. Finally, 2 out of these 20 units were picked up by Dr. Atho's vehicles and transported another 190 kms over the next 7 hours, before reaching the Tirbin community health centres.*
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<aside> 📣 *The Noklak district in Nagaland was created less than 12 months ago. With a population of a mere 50,000 people, the district is amongst one of the remotest and most sparsely populated in India. The closest tertiary healthcare facility is 14 hours away, the nearest train station 12 hours by road. Until May this year, the district had not experienced a single COVID-19 case, owing to the extraordinary vigilance by the homogenous village communities and low population density.
The situation changed drastically in the first week of June, when cases began to peak owing to high positivity rates in the surrounding cities. With the nearest oxygen cylinder refiling station 11 hours away, it seemed highly likely that Noklak would experience shortage in oxygen capacity in the coming days. Being densely forested also meant the region's population, which has historically had high rates of typhoid and scrub typhus, was at greater risk of comorbidity from COVID. This had full symptoms of a crisis in making if action wasn't taken immediately.
When MOfA team heard of the situation in Noklak, we swung into action to get oxygen concentrators to the District Officials. The 3 units delivered were at once deployed in the local community health clinics and primary healthcare centres to aid patients suffering from symptoms of COVID-19. By acting quickly, MOfA was able to deliver these units just as the case load peaked, giving the local medical team oxygen ammunition to treat patients before their condition deteriorated.*
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<aside> 📣 *Amidst daily cases in India peaking at 300,000 and a crisis unfolding in virtually every city, team MOfA learned of the unfortunate deaths of 23 patients at the Chamarajanagar district hospital as oxygen supply ran out. The 6000L plant at the hospital had run short of oxygen overnight and by next morning, 23 people had passed away. At the hospital, it was mayhem all around, as doctors, civil society leaders and district administration raced against time to supplement resources and appealed on social media for oxygen equipment and ventilators.
Learning of the tragic deaths, team MOfA reached out to the hospital staff, and in the next 48 hours secured a shipment of 5 BiPaP ventilators from Singapore. Within hours, the funds had been wired by Canva. This enabled the team to immediately get these goods cleared for paperwork the moment these units landed in India. From here on, MOfA's in house logistics team found spare loading capacity and had the units dispatched to the Chamarajanagar district hospital.
The next day, we received a heart warming message from the doctors that these 5 units had reached the hospital in the nick of time. 5 patients had required immediate life support, and without these ventilators they would not have survived the night.
The doctors were incredibly grateful to MOfA for the help provided in getting equipments in record time to their hospital to save lives.*
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<aside> 📣 *The Tuensang district in Nagaland, a beautiful, yet remote and backward district, is one of the most multi-tribal and multi-ethnic regions in India. Nestled in the mountainous terrains and nearing the border with Myanmar, it is hard to reach. The monsoon season, which begins in late May, often leads to landslides and coupled with poor road infrastructure restricts accessibility to several villages in the district.
Tuensang experienced a relatively mild first wave of COVID-19 last year, with very few positive cases. However, the second wave saw positivity rates in the region peak all the way up to 15%. A lack of testing infrastructure and an absence of high flow rate oxygen equipment aggravated an already serious situation. The region's remoteness, coupled with the hesitancy of the tribal population towards vaccination meant that in the absence of immediate intervention, the situation had the potential to overwhelm an already fragile public health infrastructure. Having heard of MOfA from other nearby districts, the local administration reached out, requesting aid to build their oxygen capacity.
Within hours of receiving the request, MOfA activated one of its India based suppliers to procure 9 units and dispatch them immediately to Guwahati, the region's biggest and busiest port of entry. From here, the units were transported by road to Mokokchung over 500 kms of mountainous roads, and then to the final destination, the last 80 kms taking 6 hours owing to heavy rainfall. These 9 units were received in the district headquarter hospitals and immediately deployed to the remotest and most in need primary and secondary healthcare centres*
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