At Kashmir hospital, 80% Covid patients need high-flow oxygen

SRINAGAR: Over 80% of Covid-19 patients at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital, one of the most prominent tertiary-care hospitals in Srinagar, are on high-flow oxygen, requiring up to 20-30 litres of oxygen per minute (LPM).

This was the underlying reason to trigger a clash between the attendants outside the hospital over oxygen cylinders on Saturday. The government has now deputed 30 labourers from the labour department who will now carry the bulk oxygen cylinders into the Covid-19 wards instead of attendants at SMHS.

“Fifteen labourers will now be deputed for the morning shift and 15 for the evening shift to unload the bulk oxygen cylinders from the carriers and carry them inside on trolleys. The attendant will have to show the ticket for cylinder requisition,” said a medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Kanwarjit Singh. “Our nursing orderlies have to do other work in the wards like taking tests,” he said.

The labourers have been given uniforms, PPE kits and trolleys capable of carrying three cylinders at a time. “We have also decided to give a card to one attendant of each patient who will be allowed to enter the hospital. We have seen that a patient is often accompanied by 2-3 people,” said Dr Singh.

Viral video caused row The move came after a video showing attendants assaulting each other over oxygen cylinders on a vehicle outside the SMHS hospital had gone viral.

The medical superintendent said that the attendants had climbed over the vehicle carrying the cylinders as it was entering the hospital premises. “In haste, they wanted to claim the cylinders first,” he said.

He said that though they had enough oxygen for the patients, most of them needed high-flow oxygen, upto 20-30 LPM, which could only be provided using bulk cylinders along with hospital pipeline supply.

“The wall oxygen supply inside the Covid wards can only provide 15 LPM so the patients have to rely on bulk oxygen cylinders. We have 1,800 cylinders of which 800 are in use right now round the clock,” he said.

Dr Singh said that the hospital has 300 beds for Covid patients, besides 462 beds for non-covid patients.