FREO2 Foundation ships new oxygen innovation (OxyLink) to western Uganda, launching a plan to rollout to 22 health facilities in Tanzania, Uganda and explore opportunities within the Solomon Islands
In many low resource environments, harsh dusty conditions, humidity, high temperatures and mains power fluctuations/blackouts are common. Under these conditions, most oxygen concentrators can be seriously compromised.
In a recent Take A Breath with FREO2 podcast episode, Manager of FREO2 Uganda Sheillah Bagayana discusses a heartbreaking experience that made her want to work in oxygen provision. Sheillah was working on a children's ward after a power outage at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda: “The day before I had made a ward round and I had left the ward filled with a number of young children” says Sheillah. However, the next morning when Shiellah visited that same ward, there had been a power outage overnight and “when I looked around the room, it was almost empty…many children hadn’t survived the night”.
Maintaining a continuous flow of oxygen is critical, as a hypoxic child cannot survive beyond 7 minutes without medical oxygen.
FREO2’s latest technology (OxyLink) is designed for health centres in low resource settings that often experience unstable energy supply and power outages; this compromises the oxygen delivery of most commercial oxygen concentrators. OxyLink provides 100% oxygen availability and can maintain oxygen flow even during prolonged blackouts.
OxyLink combines the essential elements of a reliable oxygen system, its features include:
LPOS – our Low Pressure Oxygen Storage system (LPOS) delivers oxygen to patients whilst also storing any excess oxygen from the OxyLink. This ensures that when the power turns off, LPOS automatically switches over to the oxygen storage system and continues to deliver oxygen to the patient.
ODS - Bedside oxygen delivery with the FREO2 Oxygen Distribution System (ODS), which pipes oxygen at low pressure to the bedside, avoiding costly copper piping and dramatically minimising any losses due to leakage. This enables health care workers to efficiently deliver oxygen to patients.
FREO2 PROTECT – an internal power conditioning system that prevents damage that may be caused by faulty energy supply.
PRIORITISER - Seamless integration of a backup oxygen cylinder that is designed to automatically supply oxygen to a patient in the event of a power outage.
We are now rolling out the distribution of OxyLink’s to 22 health clinics across Uganda, Tanzania and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. The first hospitals to receive our OxyLink units are: Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, where Sheillah witnessed the tragic consequences of electrical blackouts on a children’s ward and Kalisizo General Hospital where we are working closely with Brick-by-Brick and the BAMA program to strengthen medical services.
To listen to our Take a Breath with FREO2 podcast episode with Shiellah go to: https://shows.acast.com/take-a-breath/episodes/a-passion-for-healthcare-innovation
To read more about our OxyLink innovation, go to: https://freo2.org/products-innovations
Photography by Peter Casamento, https://www.casamentophotography.com.au
