Ludhiana leads state in building medical oxygen infrastructure

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 17

Ludhiana, which being the biggest district with a maximum population of over 3.5-million passed through a harrowing time during the deadly second Covid wave, has built a strong medical oxygen infrastructure to meet the anticipated high demand of the life-saving gas during the possible third virus wave, the government has confirmed.

Besides accumulating maximum cylinders, the district has also acquired the highest number of oxygen concentrators in the state, the official figures have revealed.

6,165 oxygen cylinders made available

The data compiled by the Health and Family Welfare Department, which is available with The Tribune, showed that Ludhiana has made available 6,165 oxygen cylinders, including 4,774 D-type cylinders, 4,158 in private and 616 in government hospitals, and 1,391 B-type cylinders, including 855 in private and 536 in government institutions.

The development assumes significance as an acute shortage of oxygen cylinders and concentrators was faced while catering to a high demand of serious and critical patients who were hospitalised during the second Covid wave, which had rapidly slid into a devastating crisis when the health facilities had unbearably fell short, oxygen supplies had ran low and many had died even without seeing a doctor.

The data compiled by the Health and Family Welfare Department, which is available with The Tribune, showed that Ludhiana has made available 6,165 oxygen cylinders, including 4,774 D-type cylinders, 4,158 in private and 616 in government hospitals, and 1,391 B-type cylinders, including 855 in private and 536 in government institutions.

When it comes to oxygen concentrators, Ludhiana acquired 417 devices that concentrate the life-saving gas from a gas supply, typically ambient air, by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched product gas stream, which were the highest in any district as of now. These included 270 of 5-litre capacity each and 201 of 10 litres each.

In the entire state, a total of 32,897 oxygen cylinders, including 25,376 D-type (16,711 in private and 8,665 in government hospitals) and 7,521 B-type (3,768 in government and 3,753 in private institutions), have been made available so far.

On the oxygen concentrator front, the state has already accumulated 8,387 devices, including 4,398 of 5-litre each and 3,998 of 10-litre capacity each.

The state government was already in the process to further augment the medical oxygen supplies, under which several systems and processes were being put in place, besides building up the requisite infrastructure.

Besides, 41 PSA plants were being installed through the Centre and 37 through aid and donations in medical colleges and healthcare facilities. While six PSA plants were already installed and functional in the state, work to install 11 was in progress and 61 were in the pipeline.

While three cryogenic LMO tanks in medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala, and Faridkot were being installed at Rs 2.27 crore, six more tanks will be installed at six hospitals, including a medical college, and five district hospitals at Rs 4.28 crore.

Another Rs 11.17 crore was being spent on the allied works for PSA plants.

The government has already provided Rs 25 crore for oxygen PSA plants, and Rs 30 crore for allied equipment in the state.