If all things fall in place then oxygen cylinders could be available to a patient at their doorstep. This however would depend on the decision and modalities being discussed by the state government and civic authorities. For instance Mahindra Group have pressed into service 100 vehicles for carrying oxygen cylinders to hospitals which they also plan to extend for personal use once guidelines are established.
At present the Mahindra Group rolled out a free service initiative, ‘Oxygen on Wheels’ by connecting oxygen producers with the hospitals and medical centres in dire need of it. This has been started in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Chakan, Nashik and Nagpur wherein over 100 vehicles are ferrying oxygen. Over the past few days the state government has been meeting Corporates and multinational companies seeking help to tackle Covid-19 situation.
“Given the overwhelming response in the past 48 hours, extending this initiative to deliver oxygen cylinders directly to patients’ homes is also under consideration,” said sources from the Mahindra Group. With a large fleet of vehicles at its disposal and an integrated command and control centre, Mahindra Logistics is working on creating a seamless and endless chain of supply of lifesaving oxygen and transport it to the hospitals and medical centres.
Currently transportation of liquid oxygen for medical purposes has been a big issue throughout the country. There are tankers that are being used to distribute these LMO to hospitals and nursing homes from the place of its production across the country. However at an individual level, people are desperate as they are buying not only oxygen cylinders but also concentrators.
Earlier this week several oxygen concentrators were imported from other countries, which is in big demand for patients who are home quarantined. The medical device concentrates oxygen from ambient air and is particularly helpful for patients who are isolating at home as well as for meeting the demands of hospitals running low on oxygen.
