“We need oxygen cylinders every 15-30 minutes depending on the condition of the patient. We cannot have proper sleep at night, because we need to arrange cylinders. It is not the job of the doctor, but we do it because we are answerable,” said Renu Yadav who is running Aarvy Hospital here.
Though top hospitals in Gurugram have been grappling with shortage of liquid oxygen supply with sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, the smaller hospitals and nursing homes, with fewer patients too, are equally impacted.
“Everybody is having the same problem. The situation is the same everywhere. The oxygen condition is very bad. It is beyond imagination. It has, in fact, worsened over the past three-four days,” said Dr. Yadav. She has 47 COVID-19 patients at her hospital. Dr. Yadav said that they had written several emails and also tried to reach out to Chief Minister Manohar Lal, but nothing happened.
Crisis averted
She recalled how the hospital was on the verge of completely running out of liquid oxygen on Tuesday morning but they somehow managed to get five cylinders. “The administration is willing to help, however, there is not enough oxygen,” said Dr. Yadav.
She said that they have now made the patients sign a declaration that hospital would not be held responsible in case of any eventuality due to short supply of oxygen.
The district administration on Wednesday said that the hospitals and nursing homes located in Gurugram and registered on the government’s web portal as COVID hospitals would only be entitled to get cylinders filled through oxygen-refilling stations registered with Gurugram.
Allocated quota
The administration said that hospitals from outside the district sent their vehicles to refilling stations in Gurugram creating undue pressure on allocated quota of the district and they would “in no circumstance” be allowed access to refilling stations.
It also made it clear that hospitals registered with the district need to update their data on availability of beds by 5 p.m. everyday, else the administration might consider discontinuation of or limiting their oxygen supply.
Gurugam has an allocated quota of 35 MT of liquid medical oxygen.
