The three-wheeled stretcher was developed in response to a challenge identified by Molete, who previously managed a clinic and witnessed first-hand how inaccessible roads in informal settlements and rural areas often delay critical care.
“What really bothered me was that we also had very disturbing emergency medical cases like stab wounds. Mothers who are about to give birth and many other images that we couldn’t deal with. All we had was simple emergency medical trolley, but we had to stabilise those patients and send them off as usual as per protocol. But I think what bothered me the most was that. Almost all of these patients would arrive in wheelbarrows, makeshift wooden stretchers, summing blanket, some carried by a number of people. So if you think about the situation, they had medical trauma, but also getting them to the clinic where second to trauma simply because,” says Lebo.
Yvette, a professional nurse, says the stretcher will make a difference.
“This stretcher can be used to help people access emergency medical transport in a safer, more dignified way than wheelbarrows. I’ve heard and seen too many stories of elderly people being pushed in wheelbarrows. The health facility is quite a distance and it’s quite an unsafe distance. War believe that it can be a more dignified way of getting people either to an ambulance or two, a safe space faster so that we can get them to the facility with the help of the community health workers,” said Yvette.
The innovation is part of a broader effort to strengthen the health system’s responsiveness in low-resource areas. The Langa Bicycle Hub will play a key role in piloting the stretcher and maintaining it.
Recent Comments