India has built world’s first disaster hospital that can be airlifted, packed in 72 cubes. The project is part of PM Modi’s Project BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita and Maitri) announced in February 2022, following which the Ministry of Defence constituted a task force.
The “Aarogya Maitri” scheme, under which India will supply basic medical supplies to any developing countries affected by a natural disaster or humanitarian crisis, was announced by Prime Minister Modi during the Global South Summit in January of this year.
The project was officially launched at the MedTech Expo in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, in August, along with the G20 Health Ministers meeting. The project was first shown to Myanmar officials in July.
Key Features of the Aarogya Maitri Cube
The Aarogya Maitri Cube consists of 72 cubes. These cubes contain essential equipment and supplies, such as an operation theatre, a mini-ICU, ventilators, blood test equipment, an X-ray machine, a cooking station, food, water, shelter, a power generator, and more.
The cubes can handle several severe injuries, including 40 bullet injuries, 25 major burns, around 10 head injuries, long limb fractures, spinal injuries, chest injuries and spinal fractures.
The special cage can fit in 36 mini-cubes, including almost everything that can be packed for survival for a period of 48 hours for 100 survivors. There are two of these cages, called master cubes, which can be joined to support 200 survivors. One of the major features of these cubes is their ability to handle various severe injuries, including bullet injuries, major bleeds etc.
Using the concept of ‘Rubik’s Cube’, each cube has been designed to weigh below 20kg so that it can be easily carried manually up to a kilometre.
According to a report, the total weight of each master cube (containing 36 cubes) is less than 750 kg, and a combination of two such cubes converts the basic primary care setup arrangement into a mobile hospital capable of performing life-saving surgery.
The structure comes with a tablet-based application that helps in operating all 72 cubes. The kit includes a portable generator, including a solar panel-based generator, and all of the equipment is rechargeable.
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