WHY CYLINDERS FULL OF OXYGEN ARE SO CRUCIAL IN HOSPITALS?
LUCKNOW: Supply of oxygen through high-pressure cylinders to critically ill patient is crucial as the level of the allimportant gas falls considerably in the infected body.
For such patients, a supply of oxygen for some time helps him/her in regaining the needed level of gas in the body. Patients in Gorakhpur were put on oxygen supply for this reason.
The benefit of giving oxygen to patients through cylinders or gas pipeline is that the concentration of oxygen through such supply is high. Normally, in all such supply, there is 95% of oxygen and the remaining is carbon-di-oxide. Under normal conditions, the air we breathe has about 21% oxygen. So when oxygen is supplied to the body via artificial method, its concentration in the body goes up thereby helping the body to revive.
IDEAL SITUATION FOR GAS SUPPLY
An ideal situation for hospital oxygen supply is when the hospital campus has its own liquid oxygen tank connected to the medical gas supply system. Though the gas from the liquid oxygen tank may be supplied through small cylinders, if the liquid oxygen gas cylinder is of good capacity, say 20,000 litres, there will be no shortage of oxygen gas. At the KGMU this system is working for the past 3 years. “We have made a rule to refill the liquid gas tank even as its level comes down to 40%,” said Dr Sandeep Tiwari.