4 more die as oxygen supply fails in Faridpur
Four more critical Covid patients died in a gap of half an hour on Friday following oxygen supply disruption at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College Hospital in Faridpur.
Ten days ago seven patients with Covid and its symptoms died at Satkhira Medical College Hospital after the hospital’s central oxygen supply remained non-functional for about two hours.
The Faridpur hospital authorities admitted that the deaths followed a fall in the pressure of the hospital’s central oxygen supply, a phenomenon experienced during replenishment of the hospital’s oxygen stock, which has become more frequent than ever amid a deepening oxygen crisis.
‘The deaths occurred between 9:00am and 9:30am immediately after the hospital’s central oxygen pressure fell for about 20 minutes,’ Ananta Kumar Biswas, head of the hospital’s intensive care unit, told New Age.
Three of the patients were at the hospital’s ICU while the other was at the Covid general ward, he said, adding that there was a fall in oxygen supply before they died.
‘They were critical patients kept on a high-flow oxygen supply,’ said Ananta, adding that their saturation levels were about 80 per cent or lower and that the patients at the ICU needed oxygen supplement of 40 litres per minute.
A continuous supply of high-flow oxygen is critical for the treatment of Covid patients with serious breathing difficulty.
Saifur Rahman, the hospital’s director, said that the refill of oxygen tanks required reducing the oxygen supply pressure and the replenishment on Friday was carried out at around 8:00am.
‘There was a fall in the oxygen supply pressure and it happens so every time we refill the tank,’ said Saifur.
The hospital’s oxygen tank now can have 10,000 litres of liquid oxygen, which can no longer be fully refilled, especially after the latest surge in Covid cases has driven up oxygen demand across the country, said the hospital authorities.
Before the pandemic, the hospital got a full refill of its tank every 15 days but of late they have been receiving about 6,000 litres, which lasts maximum two days, they said.
‘Lately oxygen has become scarce and authorities cannot provide a full refill,’ noted Ananta.
Currently there are about 400 patients with Covid and its symptoms at the 500-bed Covid hospital, including 16 beds at its ICU unit.
The latest deaths have created a fear among Covid patients at the hospital and the repeats of oxygen supply disruption underscored the deterioration in the overall Covid situation with Covid mortality and incidence seeing records almost every day.
The number of active cases in the country has doubled to more than one lakh in less than two weeks amid growing concerns over inadequate oxygen supply.
According to health experts, Bangladesh is historically a medical oxygen-starved country and the crisis has only deepened as the worsening Covid situation prompted India to stop oxygen export to Bangladesh about two months ago.
Bangladesh used to meet 20 per cent of its oxygen demand with import, experts said.
On July 2 the director for hospitals at the Directorate General of Health Services told New Age that the country’s current oxygen demand was about 200 tonnes, which the health agency said was in supply after industries began contributing to medical oxygen supply.
According to the Covid-19 Oxygen Needs Tracker, a tool developed by the COVID-19 Respiratory Care Response Coordination project, an international initiative, Bangladesh needed 3,97,320 cubic metres or 567 tonnes of oxygen on July 8.
Seven people died at a Bogura hospital between July 1 evening and July 2 morning reportedly because of a lack of high-flow oxygen.
Local hospitals around the country report that nearly a fourth of the country’s daily Covid cases admitted by them need high-flow oxygen, which can be administered to less than 20,000 patients as there is not enough nasal cannulas.
News Courtesy:
https://www.newagebd.net/article/143290/4-more-die-as-oxygen-supply-fails-in-faridpur
