Innovation in rural Indonesia

With nearly half of the population living in peripheral regions, performing routine and emergency surgeries in rural Indonesia is becoming a tremendous challenge. Low levels of clinical care and a lack of suitable tools and equipment are not helping either.

Only 34%, or 747 out of 2,186 hospitals in Indonesia have access to an operating room with anaesthesia equipment, with close to 500 of those hospitals concentrated in the Java and Sumatra regions of the country. GE has developed a new anaesthesia delivery system called Carestation 30 to help fill this gap, and increase the access to much-needed surgical equipment for these rural healthcare settings.

Breakthrough solution

This new system integrates the level of oxygen in the blood (SpO2) and other key measurements into one system, improving the quality and reliability of anaesthesia solutions for healthcare service providers in peripheral regions. Traditionally, clinicians have been limited in their ability to monitor vital signs such as SpO2 during surgeries, even though the World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety Checklist lists integrated SpO2 monitoring as one of the most crucial measurements during an operation.

GE’s new rural anaesthesia delivery system could be a solution for both doctors and patients.“In Indonesia, GE is working hard to help bring better health to more people by leveraging the best of our resources, expertise, products and solutions to address the needs of citizens across the country. Given the access issues facing peripheral regions, advancing surgery in the rural primary care setting, particularly in rural Indonesia, is a key area of focus for us,” says David Utama, President & CEO of GE Healthcare ASEAN.

Carestation 30 has also been introduced in Thailand and the Philippines, but there have been no new installs to date.