Hyderabad officials monitor oxygen supply amid high demand

HYDERABAD:  A majority of the hospitals under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits have seen a three-to four-fold increase in consumption of oxygen as patients requiring the same have increased and so has the duration of hospitalisation.

Owing to this, the hospitals are now setting up special committees to cut back on oxygen wastage in light of the situation in New Delhi.

“We have started an oxygen task force to manage the supplies. There is a team of nurses and biomedical staff, who go about checking pipelines and individual beds, if there is any leakage or non-usage and to arrest the same,” said Dr Prashant Vashishtha, Head of Medical Services, Continental Hospital

The hospitals are also using methods like Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) instead of High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) in the majority of the cases to avoid wastage.

“We are closely seeing which patients require HFNO and which require NIV and administering the same. If moderate cases get HFNO, there tends to be over usage even though the requirements for it may not be there,” added Dr Mervin Leo, Cluster COO of Glendale’s Global Hospitals.

Hospitals like AIG note that they are also in touch with suppliers in case the need for pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen tanks are needed for rising cases. These convert atmospheric oxygen into oxygen for medical use.

Meanwhile, individual DMHOs have now begun taking stock of the oxygen consumption and requirement to ensure the supply is never falling short and also advising hospitals on how supply could be judiciously used. There are 97 hospitals in Hyderabad and 125 hospitals in Rangareddy for Covid-19. “We have given a set performa to each hospital and they will be giving us with all details of requirement per patient and where they procure it from. We have made groups to monitor their supply and linked up with drug inspectors to check if they are facing issues with black marketing,” said Dr Swarajya Lakhsmi, DMHO, Rangareddy.