While the Directorate General of Health Services claimed that it won’t be a problem providing oxygen to Covid-19 patients, the health officials and patients are finding shortage of the life-saving facilities in the hospitals. The problem with cylinders is that they need to be constantly monitored by doctors or nurses to see if there is enough left. This extra burden in coronavirus-dedicated hospitals has been creating additional pressure on doctors and other health workers when most of the hospitals are running with shortage of manpower. This is also increasing the chances of a patient dying. Running a central oxygen system means having a dedicated place in the hospital where oxygen is stored and supplied to all patient beds, using lines in the wall. But in most of the Covid hospitals, there is no central oxygen system and patients have to depend on portable oxygen cylinders.
According to DGHS, at Upazila level there are 10,394 cylinders, in divisional cities there are 13,745 cylinders. The Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital and Kurmitola General Hospital, which were first prepared for the Corona treatment, still do not have a central oxygen supply system. In Kurmitola General Hospital, the entire staffs of the hospital have been divided into three groups, and while one group works, the other stays in quarantine. This means the hospital is running with a third of its staff. In this situation, it is impossible to monitor which patient’s cylinder is emptying when. Other hospitals dedicated to the treatment of Coronavirus patients do not have enough supply of oxygen cylinders too.
We’re repeatedly trying to focus on the issue that — apart from shortage of oxygen supply, there is lack of proper management in providing treatment in the designated Covid hospitals. It remains still a big question, why the Health Ministry didn’t take appropriate steps to make the hospitals well-equipped with life-saving instruments despite getting sufficient time.
