Why is it in the News?

An Indigenous mobile hospital at the 'Pran Pratishta' event in Ayodhya played a life-saving role as 65-year-old Dharmacharya Pramukh and VHP member Ramkrishna Srivastava, experiencing a heart attack and sudden medical emergency, collapsed unconscious.

What is Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube?

• It is India’s first portable hospital that can be airlifted to a disaster area and assembled in an hour.
• This “flatpack” field hospital consists of 72 small cubes equipped with tents and customised medical equipment.
• It is built under the Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri (BHISHM) and 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 ‘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.
• 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 help?

• The portable hospital is capable of facilitating life-saving surgery on remote and tough terrains.
• 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 laboratories.
• A line of Ayurvedic products was added to the list of items in the cubes at the suggestions of PM Modi.
• “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.
• 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.
• 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.”
• 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.
• t 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.
• As a goodwill gesture, India has already given two Aarogya Maitri Cubes to Myanmar and one is being prepared for Sri Lanka.