END COVID NOW in Timisoara - Intensive Care Unit Ventilators
This project was created as a result of the current global COVID-19 crisis in Timisoara (Temesvar)/Romania in the largest city from the Western part of this country.
There is currently (May 2020) an increasing number of cases that are treated primarily in the "Victor Babes" Hospital for Infectious and Lung Diseases in Timisoara, while the "Pius Brinzeu" Emergency County Hospital Timisoara, as the largest health care facility of this area of Romania, is the headquarters of a large array of different medical specialties.
The "Victor Babes" Hospital for Infectious and Lung Diseases from Timisoara is the key health care facility of the Western Part of Romania currently involved in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 patients. It has the total capacity of 280 beds, while the 2nd Clinic of Infectious Diseases, one of its essential departments, has a capacity of 72 beds. The usual number of patients treated per year is around 1900, when the medical conditions are represented by a diversity of diseases related to pulmonology and infectious diseases - including thoracic surgery - such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, emphysema, lung tumors, pneumonia, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, meningitis, septicaemia, HIV/AIDS, etc. However, nowadays, its main focus is the treatment of patients positive for SARS-CoV-2, with an intensive care unit capacity of only 11 beds.
The "Pius Brinzeu" Emergency County Hospital Timisoara is the largest hospital in the Western part of Romania and it serves not only the approximately 330200 (census 2018) inhabitants of Timisoara, but also the nearby communities and counties. This health care facility has a total capacity of 1174 beds and it comprises multiple medical specialties - from which some available only in this hospital in the Western part of Romania - such as Neurology, Neurosurgery, Cardiology, Vascular Surgery, Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Diabetology, Urology, General Surgery, Endocrinology, Haemodialysis, Orthopaedics, Traumatology and others. All of the above are supported by the Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit which has a total capacity of 58 beds and treats approximately 1800 patients per year.
Therefore, in the context of the potential additional waves of COVID-19 in the autumn-winter 2020/2021 and also of the hypothetical circulation of SARS-CoV-2 as a seasonal virus, in order to support the medical activity of these hospitals and to improve health care services, RC Timisoara decided to buy two ventilation systems (Savina 300 Select. Manufactured and sold by Dräger - from which we have already received a formal offer) with essential consumables.
This medical project is a partnership of Rotary Clubs from three countries and Rotarian Districts and represents one of the individual initiatives part of the larger campaign initiated by the 2241 District, END COVID NOW.
The project-leading Host Club, RC Timisoara from District 2241 has asked its long-term partner Club RC Wien-Stadtpark from District 1910 to take on the role of the International Club in submitting, approving and processing the global grant application. Further contributing Clubs are RC Timisoara-Cetate (2241), RC Resita (2241) and RC Waiblingen/Germany (1830).
The Global Grant application was locked on 27th May and approved on the 1st July 2020. The total cash paid in by the above mentioned Clubs at US$ 24.344,- was leveraged by 1,8 to US$ 43.592,- due to TRF and DDF contributions.
The estimated number of direct beneficiaries per year is around 500 patients.
