New guidelines on use of oxygen as hospitals grapple with shortage

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 26

Amid persisting shortage of medical oxygen across hospitals in Delhi, the government on Monday issued guidelines on its rational use, saying efforts were under way to ease the supply situation.

This even as the Delhi HC took note of several city hospitals halting admission of Covid patients expressing concern that people might die at home because hospitals were not taking them anymore due to past casualties over oxygen shortage. The HC also noted how one oxygen cylinder was costing Rs 1 lakh. The government, however, said the availability of oxygen was not an issue and transport was the real challenge.

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All efforts to strengthen India’s fight against the pandemic are on. 318 Philips oxygen concentrators on @airindiain flight from JFK airport land at @DelhiAirport. — Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Civil Aviation

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Daily production of medical oxygen rose to 9,103 metric tonnes on April 24 as against the previous 7,259 MT a day.

The sale as of April 24 was 7,017 MT. “Oxygen is available. The challenge is transportation due to shortage of cryogenic tankers. The government has used the Indian Air force to supply empty oxygen tankers to the producer states so that one-way travel time of tankers can be cut. Filled tankers cannot be airlifted. It is too dangerous. The Railways is transporting oxygen to high-surge states on a war footing,” Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary, Home Ministry, said.

The Ministry of Health, meanwhile, issued revised guidelines on oxygen, mandating hospitals to adjust the flow of oxygen to the lowest permissible level to target a saturation of 92 per cent to 94 per cent for hospitalised Covid patients and to encourage patients to lie in prone (on the stomach) position to enhance lung capacity. They also mandate hospitals to form oxygen monitoring teams for each shift at each hospital. “The team should visit all areas where oxygen therapy is instituted, inspect gas pipelines, wall mounted gas outlets as well as gas cylinders to detect and promptly address leakages, if any. At the facility level, an Oxygen Audit Committee must be formed to supervise inventory planning,” the guidelines say.

Ganga Ram still in beg, borrow mode

Ganga Ram Hospital on Monday evening received 64 out of 104 oxygen cylinders it had sent for refill three days back, saying it continued to be in the beg and borrow mode receiving medical oxygen in tanks intermittently through the day on an hour-to-hour basis.

3 sectors exempted from oxygen ban

A day after banning the use of liquid oxygen for non-medical purposes, the government on Monday allowed three sectors — ampules and vials, pharmaceutical and defence forces — to use the commodity. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had on Sunday imposed a ban on the use of liquid oxygen for non-medical purposes. TNS

Five AMU teachers die in a week

Five Aligarh Muslim University teachers have died in the past week after brief illnesses, some of them showing “Covid-like symptoms”. During the same period, five retired faculty members have also died. Two of the teachers died in the past 24 hours, with their family members saying they displayed Covid-like symptoms.It couldn’t be confirmed whether the teachers had conducted a Covid test. PTI

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