Greater Noida: When CS Mittal’s oxygen levels started dropping, his wife Namita became increasingly worried. The 45-year-old engineer, who lives in Gaur Saundaryam in Greater Noida (West), tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week and had been in
home isolation since then. With reports of oxygen supplies running out at hospitals across
Delhi-NCR, Namita started a frantic search for a cylinder.
Relief came in the form of a taskforce of some
residents in their society, who delivered an oxygen cylinder to their doorstep around 3am on Wednesday. With their help, Mittal was later taken to Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar.
Gaur Saundaryam, which has more than 100 active cases, has become the first society in Greater Noida (West) to form a taskforce to help out Covid patients’ kin with
oxygen cylinders and pulse oximeters. The taskforce also checks availability of
Covid beds in hospitals and seeks medical advice from doctors available in the society on their behalf.
The taskforce had also set up a small
isolation centre for patients in need of emergency treatment, but hasn’t been granted permission to operate by the chief medical officer (CMO) due to a lack of trained staff. According to residents, they have purchased more than 20 oxygen cylinders, 10 disposable cardboard beds and five oximeters in case someone needs to be isolated within the society.
“We are now providing patients whatever help we can. We have oxygen cylinders and are in consultations with doctors who are ready to give medical advice to patients,” Bijendra Bansal, one of the 40 members of the taskforce, said.
While the idea was to start a full-fledged isolation centre in the banquet hall of the society’s club, residents say it was denied by the builder, who told them to get permission from the administration. “The club had attached washrooms and could have easily been converted into an isolation centre. However, that location was denied to us because the builder said we needed permission from the administration to set up such a centre. So, we decided to convert our senior citizens’ club into a temporary facility,” a member said.
The taskforce said permission from the administration would help them perform better. The builder, however, said they don’t have trained staff for an isolation centre.
“As Gaur Saundaryam doesn’t have a registered apartment owners’ association, we had asked residents to take permission from the administration. But the CMO office was of the view that since we don’t have trained staff, it could not grant permission. So, we told the taskforce to continue helping patients in whatever way they can. They are in process of forming a committee with some doctors and we will allow them to use the club after some discussions,” Gaur Sons MD Manoj Gaur told TOI.