BHUBANESWAR: In Western Odisha, where the catastrophic outbreak of Covid-19 in the second phase has put an unimaginable pressure on the healthcare system, NGOs and volunteers have stepped up to man the wall against the deadly coronavirus. As the region witnesses an unprecedented number of infections and deaths, the volunteer community has joined hands to meet the emergency oxygen needs of hospitals and people in home isolation besides, pulling up resources to procure oxygen concentrators and arranging oxygen beds for patients.
Leading them in this virus fight is Juhar Foundation, founded by Sameer Panda, Arabinda Pati, Pradeep Panda, Dipak Pujari, Dibyendu Patnaik and Pratyush Panda, all alumni of CSB Zilla School in Sambalpur and settled in different parts of the country. Since the second wave hit, the organisation has so far opened 10 oxygen banks at Bargarh, Bhawanipatna, Balangir, Brajrajnagar, Khariar, Kuchinda, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Sundargarh, with a stock of 10 to 40 cylinders at each of the banks. While the cylinders are being provided to people in need free of cost, the organisation has also supplied jumbo cylinders to some of the Covid hospitals in the region. Each of the oxygen banks has two local doctors as mentors who can guide over phone and WhatsApp.
“During the second wave, we saw that many patients in the region, which shares a border with the worst-affected Chhattisgarh, are not getting oxygen cylinders or hospital beds. Odisha has surplus production of oxygen but the last mile delivery remained an issue because of shortage of oxygen cylinders. So we took the initiative of mobilising resources for procuring oxygen cylinders and supplying the same to Covid patients who are in home isolation”, says Delhi-based Sameer, a former research scholar of VSSUT in Sambalpur who is the founder of TycheeJuno Tyres.
The foundation has tied up with 12 voluntary groups and NGOs (having 15 to 20 members each) working in the districts to distribute and refill the cylinders and help in local logistics, while funds for the purpose are being raised mostly from friends and well-wishers besides, western Odisha residents associations living abroad. “There is a large demand for oxygen cylinders in the region and almost 90 to 100 pc of our cylinders are getting used everyday. We have been getting a large number of requests from many other small towns of western Odisha to start similar oxygen banks at their places”, said Sameer, adding the 24 X 7 helpline numbers of the oxygen banks have been released on social media platforms.
“The volunteers provide oxygen cylinders to patients only on the recommendation of doctors”, he added.
Going a step ahead, the organisation on Friday opened a 50-bed Covid Care Shelter in association with Trilochan Netralaya, a unit of Vision India Foundation, at Sambalpur. What makes the facility different is that each bed is provided with an oxygen concentrator and multiparameter monitoring device. Every patient will have one wellness mentor who can be contacted anytime by the patient/attendant. Yoga teachers will conduct yoga classes and teach breathing exercises, which the patients can watch on a large
LED screen and practise. To manage the facility, the organisation has roped in local doctors.