15 more die at Goa hospital after drop in oxygen levels

THE OXYGEN SHORTAGE AT THE PREMIER HOSPITAL SIGNALS A FRESH CRISIS FOR GOA WHERE EVERY SECOND PERSON TESTED FOR COVID THIS WEEK WAS FOUND POSITIVE

PANAJI: Fifteen patients at state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital died allegedly due to oxygen shortage early on Thursday despite high court directives to shore up supplies, barely two days after 26 people succumbed to low oxygen flow at the state’s premier hospital.

Oxygen levels dropped between 2am and 6am on Thursday and 15 people lost their lives, hospital authorities told the Bombay high court at Goa, a day after the judges asked the state to do whatever it takes to ensure no deaths occur due to oxygen shortage for “at least one night”.

“Around 15 people lost their lives last night between 2am and 6am at GMC the hours during which the oxygen levels have been dropping for every night for the last five days or so,” the hospital told the court via Advocate General Devidas Pangam.

On Tuesday, 26 patients being treated for Covid 19 died between 2am and 6am with Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane saying the hospital got only a third of the 1,200 oxygen cylinders required and pushing for a probe by the high court.

Oxygen shortages were reported in multiple wards of the GMC that are set aside for treating Covid patients on Wednesday night with the situation being a repeat of the previous four days when oxygen ran out.

“Despite raising SOSes, police and health dept officials reaching GMC in the wee hours... after the alarm of oxygen fluctuations in the central pipeline was raised, 15 people died last night. Again,” tweeted Shruti Chaturvedi, one of the petitioners.

Medical college dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar said not all the deaths could be attributed to dropping oxygen pressure. The dean had earlier admitted to shortages and said that shortages could also claim patients’ lives in the long term.

“Reduced oxygen saturation lasting for a significant duration causes tissue hypoxia and irreversible tissue damage. This is worse in the presence of comorbidities and old age. The death following such hypoxemia and organ hypoxia may be immediate, or most of the time after some period of time,” he said.

Critical patients will be shifted out of wards witnessing low oxygen pressure to a newly commissioned block where the supply is steady, he added.

The health department told the court that oxygen levels dropped because of “logistical issues involved in maneuvering the tractor that carries the trolleys of oxygen and in connecting the cylinders to the manifold”.

“During this process there was some interruption, which resulted in fall of pressure in the supply lines of oxygen to the patients. Basically on account of these factors some casualties may have taken place,” the advocate general told the court.

On Thursday, relatives of patients raised an alarm as soon as oxygen levels started falling, and the police and health department staff were called in to try and rectify the issue. But it was several hours before the supply was stabilised, leaving those admitted facing potential organ damage that could have lasting effects even if they recover.

Relatives complained that the pressure was running low for several days and patients were left to fend for themselves. “My sister Laura Fernandes is admitted in GMC hospital with severe pneumonia. She was admitted on May 7. She is fighting for her life, while her two kids are waiting for their mother to come home. The first few nights at the hospital were frightening as the oxygen ran low at night and patients were dying during this time,” Christine Fernandes said. “We got a cylinder on May 11, but no doctors were willing to help fix it. My brother-in-law went home on May 12, got his tools and fixed the cylinder by himself,” she added.

The oxygen shortage at the premier hospital signals a fresh crisis for the coastal state where every second person tested for Covid is found positive this week. The state posted 2,491 fresh Covid-19 cases and 63 deaths on Thursday, according to the health department.