37 Ventilators for COVID-19 Patients

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity Foundation is committed to COVID-19 relief initiative. Our main objective is to use our contacts and expertise in the field of medical equipment to secure the purchase of devices for isolation hospitals (units tasked with treating COVID-19 patients in Poland) and to make sure that our brave frontline medical staff is equipped in personal protection gear. 

The most severe cases of a novel coronavirus can develop into severe illnesses, most of them resulting in acute pneumonia. Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia need to be ventilated because their lungs do not function normally, failing to deliver oxygen to the body. It comes as no surprise that among developing global pandemic, medical ventilators are in overwhelmingly high demand. Our charity was able to negotiate and secure the purchase of 37 medical ventilators worth almost PLN 2 500 000 (EUR 540 000). 

The acquisition was made possible thanks to the money raised through our nationwide COVID-19 Relief Fund. The fund, which was initially open to corporate donations provided by our business partners and sponsors, is now open to contributions from members of the public. 

Currently, it is next to impossible to find ventilators for sale! We are not a state agency, we are just a charitable organization, a non-governmental entity. We managed to negotiate the purchase of 37 medical ventilators. They will be delivered to Polish hospitals as the end of May, beginning of June at the latest. We know that hospitals will have to wait for the equipment, but we receive so many desperate pleas from doctors, so we decided to order the equipment anyway, says Jurek Owsiak, chairman of the board of the Foundation. 

Ventilators follow the purchase of 150 ICU beds, 157 cardiac monitors, 3000 coronavirus tests, 50 000 sets of PPE, 50 000 protective masks N95/KN95, 1 lab machine for COVID testing. The charity has also received 30 infusion pumps, 25 ultrasonography machines (allowing chest & lungs ultrasonography), machine for mechanical chest compression, 2 manual pulse oximeters from medical companies.