Senior doctor among 12 dead as oxygen runs low
Twelve Covid-19 patients, including a senior doctor, admitted to south Delhi’s Batra Hospital died on Saturday morning due to an 80-minute disruption in oxygen supply, a top hospital official said, underlining that the next 24-48 hours were critical for some patients whose condition deteriorated following the crisis.
Just a week ago, 20 Covid-19 patients admitted to Jaipur
Golden Hospital in Delhi died after the pressure dropped in the oxygen supply when the hospital was switching from liquid medical oxygen to backup cylinders. Hospitals across the national capital have been sending out desperate messages for help, with the oxygen supply stretched thin amid a raging fourth wave of infections in Delhi.
At Batra hospital, eight patients died between 12:15pm and 01:35pm after the hospital ran out of liquid medical oxygen and had to switch to backup cylinders, according to people aware of the developments. By evening, the fatalities increased to 12, confirmed Dr Sudhanshu
Bankata, executive director of the hospital.
One of those who died in the incident was the head of the gastroenterology department of the hospital. Dr RK Himthani was among those who died due to the lack of oxygen, said SCL Gupta, medical director of the hospital. Himthani had remained admitted at the hospital for the last 15-20 days, he said.
“Once the patient’s condition deteriorates, then you cannot save that patient. There is a rip
ple effect; there are many who must have been destabilised by now and the number of deaths is likely to go up. The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical for those who were impacted,” Dr Bankata said.
According to the hospital, it raised an alarm with government-appointed officials at 7am as it had not received its quota of oxygen. Despite informing them, the hospital did not receive its oxygen supply and ran dangerously low on liquid oxygen at 12:15pm on Saturday. Gupta said the hospital informed the authorities about the lack of oxygen when they had 2,500 litres of the life-saving gas left.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed grief over the incident. “This news is very painful. Their lives could have been saved – by giving them oxygen on time. Delhi should get its quota of oxygen. Can’t see our people dying like this. Delhi needs 976 tonnes of oxygen, but it received only 312 tonnes yesterday. How will Delhi breathe in such a low amount of oxygen?” he said on Twitter in Hindi.
The Centre has said priorities such as augmentation of medical oxygen and ramping up of vaccine manufacturing are being looked into diligently. It has also said that the Delhi government has not been able to lift the allotted quantity of oxygen for want of tankers. The Delhi government and the Centre have been severely criticised as the shortage of medical oxygen continues.
The Batra Hospital also informed the high court about the situation during an ongoing hearing on oxygen shortage. The judge said the issue should have been raised with Rahul Mehra, who is representing the Delhi government, before the proceedings began.
“We have been allocated lesser oxygen than what is needed so we are constantly running around to get oxygen every day. We have also been linked to two suppliers, both of whom do not deliver the oxygen on time. The tanker of the Delhi government, that was on SOS duty, reached the hospital only at 1:35pm despite having been informed at 7am,” said Bankata.
On Saturday, Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj stopped taking admissions due to oxygen shortage. The Sehgal Neo hospital in Meera Bagh sent out an SOS message on Twitter about its dwindling oxygen. “We request urgent assistance... We are running out of our backup supply, and have been waiting for a supply since early morning. We have 90 patients on O2 & 13 in ICU,” the hospital tweeted around 12:40pm.