West Bengal: Oxygen on Wheels set to extend services to patients in districts

KOLKATA: Liver Foundation West Bengal (LFWB) and Covid Care Network (CCN) is all set to extend its ‘Oxygen on Wheels’ service beyond Kolkata with an additional 100 concentrators from the John Hopkins Centre for Global Health. The devices have already arrived and the truckload will be heading to districts like Nadia, Birbhum and Darjeeling on Friday.
The first to launch such services to help patients requiring oxygen support at home, the wheels started rolling in Kolkata and up to 140km radius of the city on May 7. So far, the initiative has not only helped in delivering oxygen at doorsteps but also helped in admitting patients to hospitals.
“Individuals like Swadesh Chatterjee, despite being in North Calorina, have got together many Bengalis settled there to help us in this time of crisis. He also has been talking to John Hospin’s that has helped us in our initiative,” said hepatologist Abhijit Chowdhury, who has been into many public health initiatives during the pandemic.
So far, LFWB has been operating with 21 oxygen concentrators in Kolkata. Now, the organisation will have 40 devices for the city. A few days ago, the West Bengal Chapter of Association of Surgeons of India had handed over 10 oxygen concentrator and 30 pulse oxymeters to CCN.