In a bid to augment an enhanced supply of medical-grade oxygen for COVID patients, Community Health Centres in Lucknow, Kanpur and other UP districts will have 20 oxygen concentrators, each. The state cabinet has already issued directives to provide for the availability of the same. The move is set to boost the treatment facilities in Uttar Pradesh, especially benefitting the critically infected coronavirus patients.
UP to deploy 4,370 oxygen concentrators to ensure better management
The state of Uttar Pradesh is set to scale its oxygen availability exponentially, to meet the high demands of LMO amid the peak swell of the second wave of COVID infection. As per reports, the state is taking efforts to afoot a whooping volume of 800 MT to 850 MT of oxygen, via 90 tankers. Once harnessed, this will be the largest-ever supply volume in UP. Before the advent of the current surge, about 32 tankers were enough to meet the patients’ demands, the reports pointed.
Besides this oxygen supplement, Uttar Pradesh will deploy as many as 4,370 oxygen concentrators to ensure better management of the oxygen crisis in the scenario of its unending demand. These devices have already been provided in all the state districts and will be used at the community health centres.
Additionally, ventilators have also been provided to districts facilities as per the instructions of the CM. Regular functioning of all other life-saving medical equipment has been ensured in the state, read reports.
Auditing oxygen supplies in UP
A spokesperson of the state government stated that the CM has directed the Chief Secretary to conduct a detailed audit of medical supplies. This will help the administration to access the demand, review the availability of the life-saving fluid and maintain its adequate supply on a daily basis, to ensure synergy across all public, private hospitals and the state government.
The audit will help authorities to keep a track of the several oxygen generation units that are being set up at a rapid scale on a war footing, across state-run medical colleges and private institutions in this emergency hour. The Chief Secretary has to keep a note of daily developments and ensure the timely completion of the task.
Facilitating transport of oxygen across the state
The established monitoring system has live information on the demand of oxygen by hospitals in various districts, allotment and loading of LMO in the vehicles, live location of the tankers moving on the highways, the supply of the oxygen and its utilization. For the provision of oxygen supply to patients in home isolation, instructions have been issued to identify and allot an oxygen refilling plant for every district. To further this approach, the state has revived several oxygen refilling plants, that were previously shut down.
A spokesman added that O2 tankers are being sent in districts including Basti, Rae Bareli, Sant Kabir Nagar and Gorakhpur, whereas, oxygen is being provided via trains in Bareilly and Moradabad. In Agra, the demand for oxygen is being fulfilled via airways. The CM has further directed the State Health and Medical Education Department to recruit trained professionals for operating ventilators and other medical equipment in required districts with immediate effect.
