Indonesia Sends an 'Oxygen Bus' to Aid Residents Choking on Forest-Fire Haze in Central Kalimantan, as Respiratory Cases Reach About 350,000 Since August
Reuters reported on October 27 that as forest-fire haze worsens over Indonesia's Kalimantan, the local government in Palangka Raya, the capital of Central Kalimantan province, has rolled out an 'oxygen bus' fitted with oxygen tanks and staffed by medical professionals, offering residents struggling to breathe five to ten minutes of oxygen at a time through a small nasal tube. Medical staff on the white-and-blue bus record patients' details and administer oxygen; most of those coming forward report coughing or difficulty breathing.
The Central Kalimantan provincial health department said the service is intended to help people access oxygen, particularly those experiencing respiratory problems or who need oxygen support amid unhealthy air quality. Indonesia's air pollution index has shown readings above 1,000 in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, where readings of 300 or more are already categorized as hazardous. According to the health ministry, respiratory illnesses linked to the fires have risen to about 350,000 cases from August to October 25, with Central Kalimantan reporting about 31,000 cases as of October 25.
Indonesia battles seasonal forest fires every dry season, mostly on Sumatra and Borneo, but this year's blazes are the most intense in more than a decade: an intense El Nino has driven up temperatures, leaving the country's vast forests and peatlands more vulnerable to fires that have turned skies orange across Indonesia and reached neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：印度尼西亚城镇被林火烟霾笼罩（资料图）。图片：Zenibas，CC0（Wikimedia Commons）。Photo: An Indonesian town shrouded in forest-fire haze (file photo). Image: Zenibas, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons).
