Major hospitals in Lko have enough oxygen for 7-10 days
Plants making oxygen for industrial purpose have been asked to make the gas available for medical use, says ACS
Team HT
LUCKNOW : With the demand for oxygen increasing manifold in wake of Covid surge, major Covid hospitals in Lucknow are maintaining stock of medical oxygen for 7 to 10 days with the help of liquid oxygen tanks. Medical institutes depending on cylinders have enough stock for up to 48 hours and are placing orders in advance to avoid any crisis, said health experts.
The city’s biggest Covid centre –the King George’s Medical University (KGMU), which has 520 Covid beds, has liquid oxygen tank that stores up to 20,000 litres of liquid oxygen. “We maintain a minimum stock of oxygen for up to 7-10 days. As soon as the stock level falls, another truck with liquid oxygen is called for,” said Dr Sandip Tiwari, senior faculty and in-charge of oxygen supply on the campus. The Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) has a tank that stores 10,000 litres of liquid oxygen. “As soon as the level falls to around 3,000 litres we get the fresh stock moving. The daily requirement is around 1,500 to 1,800 litres of oxygen,” said Dr Srikesh Singh, spokesperson of the institute.
Era’s Medical College, the biggest Covid centre in the private sector here with over 300 beds, has both liquid oxygen tank and cylinders. The college maintains supply of up to seven days.
The Lok Bandhu Hospital, which has 150 beds for Covid patients, depends on oxygen cylinders and places orders for oxygen in advance. “The daily consumption is about 150 to 200 jumbo cylinders. At present, we have oxygen for another 36 hours and the fresh stock will arrive tomorrow,” said Dr Amita Yadav, chief medical superintendent of the hospital.
There are 32 Covid facilities in the city. The others depend on oxygen cylinders and the stock is maintained for up to five days.
No oxygen crisis in Agra
“There is no oxygen crisis as such at present,” stated Dr Sanjay Kala, principal of SN Medical College and Hospital in Agra.
“The directive to divert oxygen used for commercial purpose to medical purpose will help a lot,” stated Dr RC Pandey, chief medical officer, Agra.
‘No complaints of oxygen shortage in Prayagraj’
At present, there is no shortage of oxygen supply in Prayagraj district. Though most of the hospitals are running on oxygen banks in their stores, regular supply is ensuring that their daily needs are met, said officials. “We have not received any complaints of oxygen shortage anywhere in the district. All Covid treatment facilities functioning in the district, including Level-2 Tej Bahadur Sapru (Beli) Hospital and Level-3 SRN Hospital, have adequate supply of oxygen, as per current needs. This has been possible as we have kept a close watch on the demand and ensured regular supply,” said Dr Rishi Sahai, Covid-19 district nodal officer.
“However, with rising number of Covid cases, we have decided to increase our stock of oxygen by 25% so that we have surplus,” he added. Harshvardhan Bajpai, MLA (Allahabad North), who is a director of Parerhat Industries Pvt Ltd, one of the main firms dealing in oxygen supply in the region, also said that oxygen supplies are being met without any problem.
“There is a demand of around 4,000 oxygen cylinders (7 cubic metres capacity each) in Prayagraj, out of which 2,000 cylinders are for all hospitals barring SRN Hospital that procures oxygen from outside. Our three plants in Naini have capacity to meet demand of 2,500 to 3,000 cylinders daily. We also have a facility in Teliyarganj that can be roped in to further increase supply by another 500 cylinders, if needed,” explained Bajpai.
‘Knp may face problem in case of glitch in supply’
Hospitals in Kanpur have oxygen backup only for a day. There could be a crisis situation in case supply is hindered, said health experts. With significant surge in Covid cases, the demand for oxygen has increased threefold in a week in Kanpur. The oxygen demand in the city otherwise has shot up from 11 tonnes to 35 tonnes in one week, said authorities.
The food and drug authority (FDA) has ordered to half the supply of oxygen to industries and prepare a plan that helps maintain a stock of 58 tonnes of oxygen at any given time. Drug Inspector in Kanpur SK Maurya said the city has 58 tonnes of oxygen stock as back-up.
At present, 38 tonnes of oxygen is being consumed in hospitals, up from 11 tonnes last week.
As the demand for oxygen is going up, the LLR hospital is consuming 6000 litres a day. An oxygen supplier said a cubic metre of oxygen is being sold for Rs 15.66 from Rs 9.22.
“Oxygen supply is continuing from Modi Nagar and Dehradun, I dread in case there is a glitch in supply, it will create havoc in Kanpur like last year when hospitals ran out of oxygen for one week,” he said.