After a series of unfortunate incidents where seriously-ill COVID -19 patients died before they could be admitted, a social organisation has stepped in to create an oxygen facility while the patients wait near Gandhi Hospital.
“Some ambulance drivers would bring patients to the hospitals and leave even before the ill person was wheeled into the hospital for treatment. We have now set up 20 oxygen cylinders and five beds where patients are being given oxygen during the waiting period,” says Azam Khan of Social Data Initiatives Forum.
The facility is being expanded to other government COVID-care facilities, Mr Khan says, adding, “When the oxygen supply crisis happened in King Koti Hospital, we were able to supply oxygen to three patients”.
It is taking anywhere between 45 minutes to three hours for patients to get a bed in government hospitals. While the attenders of patients have to get the paperwork done, the patients who are in various stages of discomfort have to wait it out either in the ambulance or in the triage area. A few days ago, a 25-year-old patient died at the entrance of Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) at Gachibowli here after she was driven from one government hospital to another in search of a bed. According to healthcare workers at Gandhi Hospital, a number of patients are being declared ‘brought dead’ every day at the tertiary care facility.
“We launched the facility five days ago, only during daytime. But because of the demand, we have made it a 24/7 facility. We have started it at Chest Hospital, Erragadda, too and are trying to create a similar one at TIMS,” said Mr. Khan.
Meanwhile, volunteers working on sourcing COVID medicines and aiding patients get beds are reporting a spike in the demand for oxygen.
