Autorickshaws Get Makeover as Ambulances to Help Covid-19 Patients Meet Oxygen Shortage

As India reels under state failures and oxygen paucity, coronavirus patients with mild symptoms requiring oxygen support can now contact auto-ambulances for reaching a hospital as 10 such modified three-wheelers were launched in Delhi. Launched by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in association with TYCIA Foundation on Tuesday, these autorickshaw-turned-ambulances are equipped with an oxygen cylinder and a sanitiser, a statement said. Their drivers wear PPE kits.

These auto-ambulances have been started with an objective to ensure that patients with mild symptoms and having oxygen levels between 85 to 90 can reach nearby hospitals in time, a statement said.

The auto-ambulance services can be booked through two numbers — 9818430043 and 011-41236614. There are plans to bring 20 more such auto-ambulances on the national capitals’ roads.

The city has so far recorded 12,53,902 coronavirus cases, of which over 11.43 lakh have recovered. The death toll due to the viral disease stands at 18,063, according to Delhi government data.

The number of active cases stands at 91,859.

However, Delhi isn’t the only city alone to have introduced the concept of auto ambulances. Over the weekend, Gurugram also launched five autos equipped with oxygen cylinders to answer SOS calls from covid patients and move them to hospitals.

The initiative has been started by the city-based Reva Foundation and Sai Seva Foundation to cater to the need of patients as the country reels under paucity of oxygen. The autos are equipped with 45 litres oxygen cylinders, PPE kits and masks and can be availed even by patients who need oxygen at home, reports Times of India.

In a similar service, two autorickshaws fitted with oxygen cylinders are being operated in Chnneia for the past ten days by Kadamai Education and Social Welfare Trust, working in North Chennai, reports The Hindu. The autorickshaw ferry people to hospitals free of cost and it is ensured that the drivers are always in PPE kits.

In Pune, a 37-year-old doctor in association with the autorickshaw association has started out the oxygen ambulance services, where 100 of these tri-wheelers fitted with oxygen cylinders will ferry covid patients to hospitals, reports Pune Mirror. The services will be free of cost for the economically weaker sections and for those who can afford it, it’ll charge a sum of Rs 300.

( with inputs from PTI )

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