With ICU beds running out in Delhi, struggle to get care for critically ill
NEW DELHI: Some patients being wheeled in to hospitals by the time it’s too late, others being given oxygen on stretchers and chairs in the triage area, and some others lying in ambulances, autos and vans parked outside hospitals seeking medical treatment — these scenes have been recurring in the national capital for over the past week as hospitals run out of ICU beds and shut down emergency departments for want of oxygen ports and cylinders.
On average, the city has reported over 24,000 cases daily over the past seven days. Though only a small percentage of them need hospitalisation and nearly 20,000 people have also been recovering from the disease, Delhi’s overall bed capacity of 20,751 -- and particularly its ICU capacity of 4,742 -- is not being able to keep up with the inflow of fresh patients.
Only 13 beds were vacant, according to the Delhi government’s portal on Tuesday night. Of these, 11 were at a hospital meant for pregnant women who have contracted Covid, and the other two -- one at the AIIMS Trauma Centre and the other at Medeor Hospital in Qutab Institutional Area, were also unavailable because of a queue of patients slotted for the beds.
This has led to hospitals being forced to turn away the critically ill patients, either for want of oxygen or beds, and more patients and their relatives have been desperately running from one health facility to another.
“We had to close the casualty Tuesday; there is no space to even sit there. We have been taking in patients who need ICU care and giving them oxygen in the casualty; there are eight such patients in the hospital right now. There are no ICU beds; we have accommodated as many patients as we can. Now there are no oxygen ports to attach ventilators to,” said Dr Sumit Ray, medical superintendent, Holy Family hospital in Okhla.
The situation is getting worse, according to another doctor
DR PK BHARADWAJ, CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SAROJ HOSPITAL IN ROHINI, AGREED THAT DAILY ABOUT 10 PATIENTS ARE WHEELED BY THE TIME IT’S TOO LATE TO SAVE THEM
from the hospital. “Wards are jam-packed; people are being ventilated using anaesthesia machines that are normally used in surgeries. There are patients on stretchers, wheelchairs, even on the floor. And everybody is on oxygen except those who are to be discharged. At least 10 to 15 patients are being brought dead every day. We are subconsciously triaging patients, and taking in the relatively healthier ones who have a chance of survival,” the doctor said, asking not to be named.
Dr PK Bharadwaj, chief executive director of Saroj hospital in Rohini, agreed that daily about 10 patients are wheeled by the time it’s too late to save them.
“If I decide to add 100 beds in the hospital today, they will get filled just by those who have called me today,” he said.
For the patients they cannot admit, the hospital take them into its emergency departments, gives them medicines and oxygen to bring up the saturation to 90%, before allowing them to leave to continue their hunt for a hospital bed.
A resident doctor from Lok Nayak hospital, who has been working in the ICU, said: “We are getting young patients without comorbidities. But they are struggling too. The other day, when a patient was wheeled into the ICU, her oxygen saturation was 10%. I’ve never seen oxygen saturation that low in a patient without any other disease.”
A doctor from Safdarjung hospital said on condition of anonymity: “Every time we discharge a patient, the bed is filled up immediately. Patients are desperate to get an ICU bed, but ICU beds cannot be created just anywhere -- they need proper infrastructure to provide high flow oxygen of up to 60 to 70 litres a minute.”
Dr CM Bhagat, director of Bhagat Chandra hospital near Dwarka, said, “Every day, one or two patients are brought dead because they have been running around the city in search of a bed. Every day, I get requests from at least 200 people.”
At the smaller 50-bed Panchsheel hospital, which does not have ventilator or high-flow oxygen beds, several patients chose to stay on whatever oxygen was available rather than risking going out and not getting a bed.
“They told me, let the patients stay there, they will die if taken back home,” said Dr VK Goyal, medical director of the hospital.
Demand for helpline
The hospitals have suggested creating a central helpline for allocating beds to patients so that they do not have to go from one hospital to the other.
“There should also be an ambulance stationed at all big hospitals to transport patients to other facilities. I have several patients in the casualty who just need a little oxygen support; they at least can be managed at smaller hospitals,” said Dr Ray.
He also suggested that the government take control of a few big centres completely and keep them only for patients being referred by other hospitals.
Dr Bharadwaj said, “We also need to educate people on how to take care of the sick at home.”