With the availability of medical oxygen emerging a major concern in COVID-19 care, the district administration on Wednesday launched measures to ensure sufficient stocks for supply to hospitals.
An 'oxygen war room' has been opened at the district Collectorate to coordinate procurement and distribution of medical oxygen. The war room is designed as a 24-hour facility for monitoring oxygen availability across the district and ensuring prompt supply to hospitals, District Collector Navjot Khosa said.
The auditorium of the Government Women's College, Vazhuthacaud, has been designated as the district-level collection centre for oxygen shipments. Industrial oxygen supplies sourced from various industrial units, including HLL Lifecare and Travancore Titanium Products Ltd (TTP) and also the Fire and Rescue Service, have been transferred to the collection point.
The quality of supplies will be tested by biomedical engineers before distribution to hospitals, G. Suresh Kumar, Deputy Collector (Disaster Management), said. Arrangements have also been made here for refilling empty cylinders.
Data compilation
Medical oxygen availability in hospitals in the district will be constantly monitored by a surveillance team at the war room. With the help of the Health Department, data pertaining to oxygen beds, ventilators, ICU beds, number of patients, available oxygen stocks and a projection of the requirement for the next two weeks will be compiled here.
The war room operations are managed by a committee consisting of district development commissioner Vinay Goyal, sub-collectors M.S. Madhavikutty and Chetan Kumar Meena, additional district magistrate T. G. Gopakumar, district medical officer K. S. Shinu and district industries centre general manager G. Rajeev.
The public can contact the following war room numbers for medical oxygen: 7592939426, 7592949448.
