Linde plc in India, a leading supplier of medical oxygen in India, launched “Save Oxygen. Save Lives.”, a new public service campaign to raise awareness on the proper and safe use of medical oxygen equipment.
The recent second wave COVID-19 cases in India brought an unprecedented amount of attention on the role of medical oxygen in emergency treatments and saving lives. The situation also revealed knowledge gaps on the proper handling of medical oxygen equipment which led to health risks and wastage, especially with personal supplies of medical oxygen.
“While our hope is that India never goes through such a crisis ever again, we also need to ensure that whatever we’ve learned from this crisis translates into greater preparedness for the future,” said Moloy Banerjee, Head South Asia, Linde. “Oxygen is a precious, life-saving resource, and we believe this campaign will raise awareness on the proper use of medical oxygen equipment, avoid unforeseen wastage and ultimately support the fight against the pandemic.”
The campaign will distribute various materials aimed at raising awareness of the proper ways to handle medical oxygen equipment to Linde’s healthcare customers and partnered hospitals and provide additional training for their healthcare customers whenever appropriate. The campaign will also use social media to encourage owners of personal medical oxygen equipment to always consult a medical professional on their proper usage and discourage unnecessary hoarding.
The initiative is one of several in Linde’s overall effort to support the country’s battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Linde has played an active role in the supply and distribution of medical oxygen throughout the country over the past few months, including working with the government to implement the Oxygen Express to transport medical oxygen from states with surplus supply to those that needed it.
The campaign will also seek partnerships with medical associations and hospitals to bring the message further throughout India. Linde continues to encourage the public to get vaccinated when they can, wear masks when they are out in the public and to adhere to social distancing guidelines.