About


Who: Four UC Berkeley Seniors

What: A vision to reduce maternal mortality rates in African countries

How: Making hospital transportation for pregnant women a safe and convenient reality.

Why:Women who receive professional medical care during birthing are less likely to have complications and the health of both mother and child is substantially improved

Our Story:
Medbikes was founded in Fall 2011 at UC Berkeley by four graduating Cal seniors. Nick Hu realized the need for emergency transport and trauma response in the hospitals of developing countries when he spent a summer working in a Tanzanian hospital. This hospital, Shirati KMS, became the location of Medbikes's pilot project. 

Medbikes works to reduce maternal mortality rates in African countries. We do this by securing funds to provide hospitals with the "medbike". This vehicle is a motor bike ambulance capable of holding three passengers    while maneuvering the rough, roadless terrain of rural Africa.

Originally meant to transport pregnant women to the hospital, the medbike's use will expand to respond to all emergency cases. Upon receiving a call from the person-in-need, the hospital will deploy a driver and nurse on the medbike to pick up the patient. Similar to ambulances in developed countries, the medbike will hold a supply of medicine and medical tools. Oxygen tanks and other heavier equipment will be added as funds are acquired.

We focus our efforts on developing the capacity of one hospital at a time. Initially we only use the bikes for pregnant women as to allow the hospital to build up their emergency and trauma response teams while establishing better communication with the health representatives of local villages. Drivers are able to optimize their routes and times during the trial period. All medbikes carry Misoprostol to give to women during labor to prevent and lessen hemorrhaging.

Medbikes is constantly applying for new grants to provide more hospitals with the medbike and ultimately save more lives. If you are aware of any grants that seem applicable, please contact us. We also appreciate donations and will keep you updated with our progress.

Read about the success of our first program in the EMS:Shirati tab!