With government hospitals receiving more COVID patients, the demand for oxygen lines has also increased. Hence, the Public Works Department (PWD) has been roped in to provide oxygen pipelines for 31 government medical colleges across the State at Rs 73 crore and almost 90 per cent of the work has been completed, said officials.
Chennai: In 31 government medical colleges where COVID patients are treated, including Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, Government Omandurar Medical College and Government Chengalpattu Medical College, there are 32,000 beds. Of the total number of beds, the PWD has provided pipelines for 13,000 beds.
“Oxygen pipelines are already present at existing beds as they have been put in place while constructing the hospital itself. As additional beds are also occupied by COVID patients, the demand for oxygen lines has increased, and it will further increase in the coming days. So, we are providing these lines for government medical colleges, district headquarters hospitals, and taluk hospitals across the State, which have more than 30 beds. Also, the oxygen capacity is increased depending on the number of cases received at each hospital,” said a senior PWD official.
The pipelines have three lines (red, blue, and green), which include a vacuum, compressed airline, and oxygen and they will be connected to cylinders at the manifold room at the hospitals. The oxygen capacity has been increased from 20 KL to 40 KL.
“If a COVID patient has breathing issues, the patient can place the oxygen mask on their own. We have also kept a plug point and when it is inserted, the supply will increase gradually after placing the mask. After two hours, when their breathing is normal, they can remove it. If a patient is still suffering from breathing issues, then they will be shifted to ICU, where we have fixed one pipeline extra, which supplies Nitrogen Oxide (N2O). We have completed almost 90 per cent of the work,” said K P Sathyamurthy, Joint Chief Engineer, PWD.
“Oxygen pipelines are already present at existing beds as they have been put in place while constructing the hospital itself. As additional beds are also occupied by COVID patients, the demand for oxygen lines has increased, and it will further increase in the coming days. So, we are providing these lines for government medical colleges, district headquarters hospitals, and taluk hospitals across the State, which have more than 30 beds. Also, the oxygen capacity is increased depending on the number of cases received at each hospital,” said a senior PWD official.
The pipelines have three lines (red, blue, and green), which include a vacuum, compressed airline, and oxygen and they will be connected to cylinders at the manifold room at the hospitals. The oxygen capacity has been increased from 20 KL to 40 KL.
“If a COVID patient has breathing issues, the patient can place the oxygen mask on their own. We have also kept a plug point and when it is inserted, the supply will increase gradually after placing the mask. After two hours, when their breathing is normal, they can remove it. If a patient is still suffering from breathing issues, then they will be shifted to ICU, where we have fixed one pipeline extra, which supplies Nitrogen Oxide (N2O). We have completed almost 90 per cent of the work,” said K P Sathyamurthy, Joint Chief Engineer, PWD.