With many hospitals struggling to get their supply of liquid oxygen, the State government has issued a circular to all manufacturers stating that delay in supply would amount to violation of legal provisions.
In the circular issued on Wednesday, Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary of the Commerce and Industries Department, directed all manufacturers of medical oxygen to augment the production of liquid oxygen without interruptions to meet the demand irrespective of “exclusivity of the vendors” as per the memorandum of understanding entered into between a hospital and a supplier. The circular also directs hospitals, medical institutions, and refilling units to inform the assistant drugs controllers of the respective area to resolve any issue related to shortage of supply.
Demand for liquid oxygen has been on the rise as many patients who have COVID-19 require hospitalisation to prevent/control complications.
Cryogenic vessel
Meanwhile, a cryogenic liquid oxygen tank is now being sourced for Mysuru from Maharashtra after no company took part in a tender process for establishing the facility that aims continuous oxygen supply to patients, especially the critically-ill COVID-19 cases with respiratory distress, at the State-run K.R. Hospital (KRH).
With the Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute getting the State government’s nod for establishing centralised oxygen support to 950 beds by laying pipelines in its hospitals, the institute has identified the KRH premises for setting up the 13 kl oxygen tank/vessel for unceasing oxygen support to patients. Liquid oxygen has to be refilled once in two days and there is no need for changeover of the cylinders for the patients, thus improving the condition of patients, according to doctors.
With the huge demand for such facilities in the wake of exponential rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, many large hospitals are establishing cryogenic tanks to overcome oxygen shortage. This has led to steep demand for such vessels and firms are unable to meet the demand.