Mindtree Foundation launches ‘OxyBus’ to provide healthcare support to Covid positive patients
While the country continues to grapples with an exponential surge in COVID-19 infections, reports suggest that the concentration of the infection has moved to rural areas, which are underprepared & overwhelmed with the situation.
In the recent past, numerous cases have been reported where oxygen shortage has been attributed as proximate cause of death while the patients were in transit or could not reach the facility. While a considerable number of oxygen tankers and cylinders are being made available, the logistics of refilling them and transporting them to the required destinations is a major tailback.
During these critical times, when the demand for oxygen is only likely to surge further, Mindtree Foundation in partnership with IndiVillage Foundation, an NGO, has launched ‘Mindtree-OxyBus’ in the towns of Uttar Kannada district such as Karwar, Dandeli, Honnavar, and Sirsi
The OxyBus proposal was to augment the efforts of BBMP and was initiated on their request. We connected with rural Karnataka, to where the COVID concentration seems to have moved with people migrating because of the lockdown. It needs no mention that the medical system in the rural towns are said to be under-prepared and overwhelmed with the rising cases of COVID. This initiative helps support the hospital infrastructure system by providing oxygen supplies in a unique way and a humble effort in saving lives.
Through this novel initiative, Mindtree Foundation has transformed school buses, into critical caregiving facilities on wheels that are flexible and can be used as a shuttle between hospitals and triages. Each bus will be able to provide medical-grade oxygen to 6 needy patients at a time, well equipped with 6 oxygen cylinders, easy to install and remove medical equipment, humidifiers, fans, oxygen gauges with flow meters, and other facilities to ensure optimum comfort for the patients.
The buses will be placed close to the Covid care centres. Patients being treated in these OxyBus will be closely monitored by the 24×7 healthcare staff deployed at the respective care centres. We will ensure the medical equipment will be returned and donated to hospitals and care centers in rural areas that may need them for future use.
“At the moment when the oxygen requirements witness almost 10 fold rise in the country and there is a sense of impalpable fear of losing loved ones, it is our sincere effort to scale an impact in this direction. With Mindtree-OxyBus we aim to protect healthcare heroes and patients that are in critical need of oxygen but are unable to avail a bed in a hospital”, says Paneesh Rao, Chief People Officer, Mindtree.