BENGALURU: A day after three hospitals were on the verge of running out of oxygen and 24 Covid patients died without oxygen at Chamarajanagar District Hospital, Rajmahal Vilas Hospital in Sanjayanagar, Bengaluru wrote to the BBMP seeking an immediate supply of oxygen. “Universal Air Products is our vendor and despite our repeated request, has not supplied liquid oxygen and we are personally going to the factory to get bulk type and B type cylinder filled up. Even this is taking a couple of days to get delivery. In this scenario, managing 30-plus Covid patients (both BBMP and private) is becoming a challenge,” the hospital said in a letter to Dr Vedavathy, BBMP East Zone official.
Of the 30 patients here, 12 need continuous oxygen. The hospital’s daily consumption is 130-140 litres and they need 230 metric tonnes that will last five to six days. “We have three cylinders left for today. If we get five more, we can last two more days. We went to the Universal Air plant on Monday for oxygen, but they asked us to return on Tuesday,” said Karthik Shekar, coordinator of the hospital.
Abiramm Hospital on Hosur Road, faced with oxygen shortage, stopped admitting patients even though they had beds. The hospital said that the BBMP is suppling oxygen cylinders to the hospital after sourcing them from private vendors, but the process is extremely slow.“With the shortage of oxygen, we will see deaths of Covid patients. We are denying admission because of lack of oxygen. The private vendor took back 30 cylinders from us to give to BBMP. We have only 10 left. We need 40 cylinders a day for 20 patients,” said hospital MD Dr Uday Kumar, adding that serious patients coming for CT scan also need oxygen at the OPD.
Hospitals in Yelahanka zone too faced shortage of oxygen on Tuesday. This has been the situation for the last two weeks for nearly 15 hospitals. “Private suppliers do not have enough oxygen and the requirement is huge as the number of patients on ventilators is increasing,” said Dr Shankarnarayan, Indian Medical Association head, Yelahanka branch.TNIE forwarded the oxygen requests of these hospitals to Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar’s office and they arranged for it.
BMRCL sets up 100-bed CCC for employees
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has set up a Covid Care Centre (CCC) to take care of its Covid-affected staffers and 8,000-strong contract workforce. Hotel Ekaa on Hosur Road, near Kudlu Gate, has been converted into a 100-bed CCC, while Jaishree Multi-Speciality Hospital in the vicinity will offer 24/7 care for patients. An official release said, “This CCC is equipped with oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders. BMRCL has tied up with nearby hospitals to shift patients if they require critical care,” it said.
IAF to start CCC from tomorrow
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is setting up a 100-bed Covid treatment facility in Bengaluru. The IAF has deployed its fleet of transport aircraft to ensure oxygen and medical supplies within India and from abroad. The facility at the Air Force Station in Jalahalli, with the first 20 beds, will be operational on May 6 with oxygen concentrators. After the state government ensures oxygen availability, the remaining 80 beds will be made operational by May 20. “Of the total 100 beds, there will be 10 ICU beds and 40 beds with piped oxygen and the remaining 50 beds will have oxygen concentrators,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence in Bengaluru.