New Delhi: After scrambling for an oxygen refill all night, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi finally received five metric tonnes of the life-saving gas in the early hours of Sunday. Officials said that a 5-tonne oxygen tanker reached the hospital at 4:15 AM today. Ganga Ram hospital had raised an alarm at 10:30 PM yesterday, saying they had only 45 minutes of oxygen left. There were 130 patients in the ICU, including 30 on invasive ventilation, when the SOS was sent.
Taking cognizance, AAP leader Raghav Chadha arranged for a one-tonne tanker at around 12:20 AM, while the gas suppliers remained unreachable. “It should last two hours,” a hospital spokesperson said around 12:45 PM..
According to him, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital’s primary supplier in Faridabad was supposed to send a tanker before 3 AM.
The tanker ultimately arrived after 4 AM and delivered medical oxygen in the highest volume that the hospital has received in the last three days in one refill. However, the new stock is expected to last only for about 12 hours.
“It should last for 11-12 hours. Oxygen running at full pressure after a long time,” the spokesperson said.
This is the fourth SOS sent out by Ganga Ram Hospital in the past few days. Hospitals in Delhi are stretched too thin for oxygen shortage, amid a scarcity of ICU beds, vaccines, remdesivir and other drugs.