All about India’s first portable hospital that can be flown to disaster areas

India has recently launched its first portable hospital that can be airlifted to a disaster area and assembled in an hour. The ‘Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube’ was unveiled in Gurugram last week.According to the Union health ministry, the mobile hospital can “provide critical medical care, making it a lifeline in remote and tough terrains where immediate medical attention is needed,” reported The Guardian.What are the features of this Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube? Let’s take a closer look.What is Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube?This “flatpack” field hospital consists of 72 small cubes equipped with tents and customised medical equipment, as per the British newspaper.Built under the Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri (BHISHM), the hospital is reportedly designed to treat up to 200 patients.The cubes, each of which weighs below 15kg and measures 38cm x 38cm x 38cm, are resilient enough to be dropped from a plane or helicopter, The Guardian reported.As per The Hindu, the ‘Aarogya Maitri Cube Cage’ has three frames containing 12 mini-cubes. A single cage can fit a total of 36 mini-cubes.At least five trained people are needed to assemble the cubes into a functional hospital in an hour. These cubes can be flown to a war zone or a remote area hit by natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, reported The Guardian.The product was developed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Project BHISHM’ which aims to support developing countries affected by natural disasters or humanitarian crises.How the portable hospital will helpThe portable hospital is capable of facilitating life-saving surgery on remote and tough terrains. According to News18, the 72 cubes contain different equipment such as portable ventilators, solar panel-based generators, ultrasound machines, digital imaging radiography machines, defibrillators, high-mounted OT lights, stretchers, modern surgical devices, and portable laboratory.“PM Modi had personally given inputs to top officials from the health ministry and defence ministry. On his suggestions, a line of ayurvedic products was added to the list of items in the cubes,” a government official involved in the project told News18.“HLL Life Care is the government’s nodal agency for sourcing the Aarogya Maitri Cube, whereas the manufacturing has been undertaken by multiple sellers as it includes a variety of products,” the official added.Billed as the “world’s first portable disaster hospital”, the kit is waterproof and corrosion-proof. A tablet computer is installed inside the cube pack to prevent mistakes while setting up the structure, as per The Guardian.Speaking to the British daily, Dr Ankita Sharma, a consultant with HLL Lifecare, said: “If the immediate need at the site is for life-saving surgery, then the operating theatre can be assembled first. This takes just 10 minutes. The doctors can start surgery while the remaining cubes are assembled.”While 60 cubes will have the same content, the rest of the 12 can have products to meet specific needs. “If it’s an earthquake where you get lots of fractures, then you pack in more cubes containing equipment for bone injuries and remove some of the bleeding injury kits needed for soldiers with bullet or bomb injuries,” Dr Sharma explained to The Guardian.A senior Health Ministry official told The Hindu in October that the portable hospital can “provide critical medical care to 100 survivors for up to 48 hours, making it a lifeline on remote and tough terrains where immediate medical attention is needed. The cubes [which are self-sustained healthcare units] can handle bullet, burn, head, spinal and chest injuries, fractures, and major bleeding. India is now equipped and ready to supply this to any country in need”.According to Air Vice Marshal Tanmoy Roy, head of the BHISHM task force, “The contents of the boxes will vary depending on whether they are being sent for assistance in natural disaster scenarios or to regions affected by war”.“It can also be utilised in regions across India that need medical support due to epidemics, high elevations, or challenging landscapes. This could play a significant role in the management of public health,” News18 quoted him as saying.Roy said that the 72 cube boxes were built for a cost under Rs 2.5 crore. “Doctors will not be there in war zones or disaster-hit areas to treat everyone. Hence, the kits are made very simple and can be used via tablet-based application which is provided within the kit”.While India has already given two Aarogya Maitri Cubes to Myanmar as a “goodwill gesture”, one is being prepared for Sri Lanka, a government official told News18.With inputs from agencies