Patients at home seek oxygen support system

Gurgaon: The city has over 37,000 Covid-19 patients in home isolation at present, making its strategy to monitor them critical. A key component of that strategy is oxygen, which some patients need, failing which hospitalisation becomes absolutely necessary. Critical patients awaiting hospitalisation, because of the shortage of beds, are also dependent on oxygen to keep their saturation levels up. But getting it has not been easy for their families, and for those who have turned critical while at home, finding an ambulance has been a tough challenge as well. We take a look at the support mechanisms for home isolation patients and what their experience has been during the second wave of the pandemic that has overwhelmed the healthcare apparatus of the city.

System put in place by the government: The administration had allowed refilling of oxygen cylinders at three stations — two in Manesar and one in Sector 16.
Patients’ experience: Residents and RWAs both complain that they are unable to get oxygen cylinders or get them refilled easily. Some have had to travel to other cities and districts to get a cylinder refilled.
“Smooth supply of oxygen to those in home isolation is the biggest challenge that we are facing today,” said Mamta Yadav, president of Vatika Seven Lamps RWA. “Though we have procured two oxygen concentrators for emergencies, that has not helped much as some patients require cylinders. There are long queues at filling stations, and despite waiting for around six hours, we could not manage to refill a cylinder,” she added.
Karan Mehra, joint secretary of Monsoon Breeze RWA, said, “We have been struggling for nearly two weeks to get one oxygen cylinder refilled. We tried to purchase new cylinders, but they are either unavailable or being sold at exorbitant prices.”
“We had to travel to Haridwar to get our cylinders refilled, as no refilling was being done here,” said Anil Malhotra, general secretary of Vatika City RWA. Starting Thursday, the MCG has introduced a token system for distribution of oxygen to individuals and will be issuing 90 tokens per day. It remains to be seen if this step will help streamline the process.

System put in place by the government: The health department has undertaken several measures, such as constituting mobile health teams to call and visit patients, providing medicines and immunity booster kits, as well as conducting yoga sessions and tele-consultations.
Patients’ experience: Families of some patients claimed they didn’t receive calls from the health department for up to a week after getting infected, while others complained about the helpline not working efficiently.
“My brother tested positive two weeks ago, but he received a call from the health department only after six days,” said Kunal Gupta, a resident of Sector 46. The health department said it is “doing everything it needs to do”.
“We have constituted a mobile health team comprising doctors, ASHA workers and ANMs. This team calls up and visits Covid patients at home. All parameters, including the patient’s oxygen levels, temperature, blood pressure and pulse rate are regularly monitored,” said Isha Narang, in-charge of home isolation, health department.

System put in place by the government: Regular checks are carried out and if a patient’s condition worsens, the health department makes referral calls to hospitals according to bed availability, Narang said.
Patients’ experience: Pradip Rahi, president of Ramprastha Atrium RWA, said, “When one of our residents turned critical recently, I tried calling the helpline number for an ambulance, but I could not get through. When I was finally able to connect, they asked me if I had a confirmed hospital bed. When I said no, they asked me to get a confirmation first before seeking an ambulance. Even the bed tracker portal is of no use. Finally, we opted for a home ICU setup.”
Deputy commissioner Yash Garg said they were formulating a plan for patients in home isolation. “Smooth supply of oxygen to hospitals remains our priority at present. We have plans to increase the bed capacity by adding 400 more beds in a week. Supply has become slightly better. If this trend continues, we will work out a plan for supplying oxygen to individuals requiring oxygen support who are in home isolation,” he told TOI.