Oxygen replenishment delay keeps hospital staff on their toes

Two patients, who were already in critical condition, died during this period on Wednesday, but not due to shortage of oxygen at the hospital here in central Maharashtra, GMCH Dean Kanan Yelikar told PTI on Thursday. As the level of liquid oxygen in the hospital's tank went down and the vehicle carrying additional supply could not reach in time, hospital staff had to shift 200 oxygen cylinders, kept as a back-up, to patients, he said.

A delay in replenishing liquid oxygen at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here, where COVID-19 patients are admitted, briefly caused anxiety among hospital officials who had to dip into reserved stock to meet requirement before fresh supply came. Two patients, who were already in critical condition, died during this period on Wednesday, but not due to shortage of oxygen at the hospital here in central Maharashtra, GMCH Dean Kanan Yelikar told PTI on Thursday.

As the level of liquid oxygen in the hospital's tank went down and the vehicle carrying additional supply could not reach in time, hospital staff had to shift 200 oxygen cylinders, kept as a back-up, to patients, he said. "We are issuing a show-cause notice to the agency supplying oxygen. Two deaths occurred in this phase and those patients were already critical.

"One had an oxygen saturation of 68 per cent at the time of admission, and the other one had acute respiratory distress syndrome. They did not die of oxygen shortage," Yelikar said. The level of liquid oxygen in the tank went down around 5.30 am on Wednesday and there was a delay in getting a refill tanker, he said.

"As a back-up plan, we have 200 oxygen cylinders. To shift them to patients was a huge task, but we did it. We sustained for next three to four hours on it," he said. The tanker carrying additional oxygen supply didn't reach in time which led to this situation, Yelikar said.

Meanwhile, a delegation of local AIMIM leaders met Aurangabad Guardian Minister Subhash Desai on Wednesday evening and demanded action against the hospital's dean over the episode. "Such things should not happen at this crucial stage," AIMIM's former leader in the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation Naser Siddiqui said.

When contacted, Desai said he has reviewed the matter and as of now there is no shortage of oxygen in the state- run hospital. "Doctors have opined that if the number of patients goes up in the future, they also need to increase the supply of oxygen. Hence, we are chalking out a plan for this and as of now there is no shortage," he said.