Noida to form four oxygen supply chains

NOIDA: Noida has devised a ‘4x4 oxygen security strategy’ to be prepared for any further onslaughts of the pandemic.
The strategy, which the city conceived following a meeting with experts and other stakeholders, splits the oxygen supply chain into four – one each for big Covid hospitals, smaller hospitals, CHCs and PHCs, Covid care centres and isolation centres operated by RWAs, and home isolation patients.
The city has started working on the strategy and will increase oxygen availability within a month, said officials. Several corporates have, meanwhile, come forward to set up oxygen plants or help with refilling of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) plants.
“We realised that last month, we struggled to arrange for oxygen on an urgent basis when the cases surged. To prevent such situations in the future, we will work strategically so that there is sufficient availability at all levels, from tertiary care specialised hospitals to home isolation cases,” said nodal officer for Covid response in Gautam Budh Nagar, Narendra Bhooshan.
At the tertiary care hospitals, the administration has asked the private centres to try to install oxygen plants or have reserve LMO tanks. ALso, the centres will have to keep sufficient cylinders and concentrators. Officials are also trying to install at least seven Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants in the city. With this, atmospheric oxygen is absorbed, the components are separated and further converted into usable oxygen gas.
The city has tied up with IIT Kanpur and three corporate groups to set up the plants. “We’ve confirmed setting up PSA plants with three groups and we are in talks with some others too,” added Bhooshan.
The second level of care is at smaller hospitals with less than 100 beds, community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs). Officials said along with the bed capacity, the oxygen availability will also be increased.
The third level is that of Covid care and isolation centres set up by RWAs. These will be strengthened with cylinders and concentrators. Efforts will also be made to ensure that all such centres are tied up with tertiary care centres.
The last level is that of home isolation. For such patients, the authorities have started oxygen banks where people can get their cylinders refilled. More such banks will be added if demand rises.