Gandhinagar, Sep 9 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday inaugurated a special demonstration of the ‘BHISHM Cube-R300’, a portable mobile emergency hospital designed to provide trauma care and other critical medical services within minutes during disasters and complex emergencies.
The demonstration was held at the Gujarat Legislative Assembly and was attended by Assembly Speaker Shankar Chaudhary, Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, Minister of State for Health, Praful Pansheriya, members of the Council of Ministers and MLAs.
The leaders also watched a short film on the emergency medical system. The BHISHM Cube-R300 has been developed under the Arogya Maitri initiative, guided by the Central government’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
According to Pansheriya, a two-day exhibition being held on September 9 and 10 is aimed at familiarising people with emergency healthcare arrangements for crises and natural disasters, including telemedicine, digital health technology, advanced logistics and resilient healthcare infrastructure.
Explaining the system, Pansheriya said: “The BHISHM Cube-R300 can be deployed within minutes in highly complex or emergency situations and can provide on-site trauma care, emergency surgery, diagnostic services and other life-saving treatment.”
The entire system is packed into 72 modular mini-cubes, each weighing less than 20 kg, and can be assembled in less than 12 minutes.
It can provide emergency treatment to around 300 injured people simultaneously. The system can be transported by land, air or sea and can also be air-dropped in remote areas.
Pansheriya described the portable hospital as a major development in disaster preparedness. The system contains around 400 medical items, including ventilators, multi-parameter monitors, a mini-laboratory and surgical equipment.
It also has a facility for conducting immediate “damage control surgery” at the site of an incident.
The unit has its own power generation and oxygen supply systems, allowing it to function independently during emergencies.
Pansheriya said, “The Central government had sent the cubes to countries including Ukraine, the Maldives, Jamaica, Venezuela and Sri Lanka to assist during humanitarian crises and natural disasters.”
He added that Gujarat’s long coastline, industrial areas and exposure to natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and earthquakes made emergency medical preparedness particularly important for the state, adding that deployment of the BHISHM Cube could strengthen its disaster response capacity.
Senior officials from the Health and Family Welfare Department, Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) and State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) also attended the demonstration.
Those present included Additional Chief Secretary Rajeev Topno, Health Commissioner (Urban) Dr Sandhya Bhullar and Health Commissioner (Rural) Dr Ratankanvar Gadhvi Charan. A large number of school students also attended the event.
–IANS
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