Doctors in TN asked to defer elective procedures, surgeries to combat oxygen shortage threat

CHENNAI: The Director of Medical and Rural Health Services Dr S Gurunathan has instructed all the private and government hospitals to ensure judicial use of medical oxygen as the state is facing a threat of it running short for Covid-19 patients. A circular sent on Wednesday asked all hospitals to defer elective procedures and surgeries to ensure this.

"It will be wise to defer elective procedures which will consume substantial quantities of oxygen, so that more oxygen is available and judicially used for saving lives of critically ill Covid-19 patients," Dr Gurunathan said in his circular.

The Director of Medical Services also instructed the secondary care hospitals across the State to divert unused ventilators and D-type oxygen cylinders to Government Medical College Hospitals where there is a dire need for oxygen.

He went on to identify 161 such D-type oxygen cylinders and 270 ventilators in all the secondary care hospitals.

Dr Gurunathan has also formed an oxygen monitoring committee in all the hospitals and instructed the committee to submit a fortnightly oxygen report audit to the competent authority under the Clinical Establishment Act. Failure to adhere to this will attract action, the circular said.

Apart from these, the hospitals also were instructed to form 'oxygen and therapy monitoring teams'. The staff in the ward must also check for any oxygen points leakage and also should turn off oxygen while the patient is eating or while venturing out to use the restroom.