Two buses with oxygen supported seats have been stationed at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) to ease the struggle of COVID-19 patients who come to the hospital for admission.
The buses have O2 lines provided to the seats, 12 each, to accommodate patients who require oxygen support during the waiting period for hospitalisation.
The initiative was introduced by the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), Coimbatore, headed by president G. Vanjinath, with the support of Seva Gases.
KGiSL provided two staff buses for the arrangement, organisers said.
“The buses with O2 support will be helpful for patients who come for admission. The facility can avoid patients waiting in ambulances,” said Jayaram Govindarajan and R. Rajanikanth from EO, coordinators of the initiative.
According to Mr. Govindarajan, trained nurses will handle patients in the two buses. They will seek the support of the medical professionals at CMCH during the shifting of patients to the ward.
Inspection
CMCH Dean A. Nirmala and District Revenue Officer D. Ramaduraimurugan inspected the oxygen buses before the launch.
On Sunday, the hospital opened a 15-bedded waiting area with oxygen support for COVID-19 patients.
Facility in Tiruppur
Volunteers from various private organisations have set up a temporary oxygen facility at the Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital.
Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan announced in Twitter on Sunday that the facility was set up within 24 hours and organisations including Natrinai, Sakthi Nursing Home and Lions Club were involved in this project.
S. Sakthivel, chief executive officer of Sakthi Nursing Home said on Monday the temporary oxygen shelter had 15 beds and 10 oxygen concentrators. Set up at a cost of nearly ₹ 25 lakh, the facility would help accommodate the patients who were waiting for beds for around six hours. This would also help reduce the number of ambulances with COVID-19 patients that lined up on the hospital premises, Mr. Sakthivel said.
The possibility of adding more beds to the facility could be explored as per the requirement, he added.
Hospital Dean Valli Sathyamoorthy said the hospital had 325 beds earmarked for COVID-19 patients including 195 oxygen beds and that the temporary oxygen shelter would be helpful for patients due to the low vacancy position of the beds. “Only those who require admission at the hospital would be allowed [at this temporary facility],” she said.
