Mumbai: The state government has asked all hospitals to use oxygen cylinders to provide immediate relief to Covid-19 patients due to shortage of ventilators. The state has demanded for more ventilators and other health equipment from the Central government. There are currently only 3,028 ventilators in Maharashtra, which is not adequate considering the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
The state health officials said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has conveyed the urgent need of ventilators in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. He said that ventilators were needed for patients who are facing breathing issues.
“In these cases, the hospital has to either provide immediate oxygen or admit the patients in ICU and put them on ventilators. We urgently need the ventilators particularly in rural areas,” said an official. According to the state health department, there are 5.63 lakh PPE kits, 10.77 lakh masks, 7,982 ICU beds, and 37,875 beds with oxygen available in various government and private hospitals.
BJP leader Kirit Somaiya has alleged that maximum people in the civic-run KEM Hospital died due to defective or shortage of oxygen cylinders. He said, “The hospital reported 21 deaths on June 16. On discussing the same with the dean and his team, they accepted that it was due to lack of oxygen cylinders. The hospital and BMC officials are enquiring the same. Meanwhile, we have demanded the resignation of Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar.”
Dr Hemant Deshmukh, superintendent of KEM hospital, said that they are focusing on setting up more oxygen supply tanks and connecting them to each and every bed. “We are in the process of setting up 13,000 kilolitres of oxygen tanks.
“The supply of oxygen is important in Covid-19 treatment. The government has to support us and our main focus is that no one should suffer due to lack of oxygen,” he said.
“If there is no supply of oxygen in the hospitals, then the patient suffers further and the next step is putting them on the ventilators. If we look at the rising number of cases, there are not enough ventilators. This puts the patient’s life under risk. The Central government must supply us with more ventilators,” Mr Deshmukh added.
