Punjab: PM Cares Fund ventilators faulty

BATHINDA: At a time when the coronavirus pandemic is raging across Punjab and overwhelming hospitals with patients, only 83 of 320 ventilators received by the state’s three medical colleges under the PM Cares Fund are functional.
And out of these 83 too, as many as 48 repaired ventilators are not being put to use over fears that they may break down, forcing the colleges to make up with their own life-saving equipment.
Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, a constituent college of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), had received113 ventilators of which 90 are non-functional. Government Medical College, Amritsar, had got 109 ventilators of which 97 are not working. Government Medical College, Patiala, had got 98 ventilators and out of these, 48 were made functional after repairs.
Have told Pb about flawed ventilator: VC
BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur told TOI, “We have informed the state government regarding the malfunctioning of these ventilators. Even Karnataka is learnt to have raised a red flag about the malfunctioning of the ventilators received from the Centre”.
He said it was imperative that the government should have provided a long-term comprehensive annual maintenance contract and a company should have engineers for rectification of malfunctioned ventilators.
The vice-chancellor said each medical college has its own ventilators being used in ICUs. The anaesthesia department of a medical college has been converted into an L3 facility for severely sick patients.