Oxygen shortage: Hospitals ask families to shift patients

This continues to be a huge problem despite the State government claiming that oxygen is not in short supply

Although the State government has been claiming that there is no shortage of liquid medical oxygen, many hospitals continued to ask their admitted patients to shift to other facilities as they are running out of stock. Government helplines 108 and 1912 were flooded with calls seeking help. Since Tuesday morning, the Emergency Response Team (ERT), a volunteer group, has been getting many calls from desperate families. ERT volunteers said they have got several calls from families of patients admitted in as many eight hospitals in various parts of the city on Tuesday, requesting help in finding oxygenated beds. At Athreya Hospital in Chandapura, families of five critical patients had been informed on Tuesday morning that oxygen stock would not last more than half an hour. “Following our desperate pleas, the Bengaluru Urban District Health Officer (DHO) G.A. Srinivas visited our hospital and made some temporary arrangements to last for a day. On his assurance, we have sent a truck with 20 jumbo cylinders for refilling from the Peenya Refilling plant. However, we lost one of the five patients,” said Narayan Swamy, hospital medical director.