Humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers, announced that it will be distributing 250 continuous positive airway pressure therapy [CPAP] ventilators to a number of public and private hospitals on the Garden Route in the coming week.
The CPAP ventilators were designed by the SA National Ventilator Group in association with SA Radio Observatory. The ventilators are mechanical, meaning they don’t require any electricity and are capable of delivering between 10 and 30 litres of oxygen per minute.
They will be delivered to areas like Caledon, Swellendam and Mossel Bay over a two day period, starting on Monday, 11 January, according to Gift of the Givers spokesperson Ali Sablay. Additional ventilators will also be delivered to hospitals in George, Sedgefield and Knysna in the following days, according to reports from SABC News.
“On Monday, January 11, Gift of the Givers will enter the Garden Route and over two days will deliver 250 CPAP machines to public and private hospitals, and EMS ambulance services in the region. In addition, all public hospitals will receive PPEs, non-contact thermometers, pulse oximeters, and scrubs,” Gift of the Givers explained in a statement on its Facebook page.
Several SAPS stations have also requested additional PPEs, which Gift of the Givers will be providing as part of the initiative, although an exact date on when they will receive the PPEs has not been provided.
“We have witnessed thousands of desperate patients requesting oxygen concentrators or pouring into hospitals, in many cases travelling for several hours from hospital to hospital in search of oxygen. Tragically, due to the unavailability of sufficient oxygen delivery machines, many hundreds have died in their cars, in hospital queues, casualty departments, or at home in their beds in the knowledge that capacity to serve all COVID-19 infected patients is outstripped by demand,” Gift of the Givers added.
Despite the generous donation CPAP ventilators, Gift of the Givers urges all South Africans to remain vigilant, wear masks, sanitise, avoid crowds and be responsible during these hard times.
Picture: Facebook/Gift of the Givers
