District Administration Jalandhar has come up with a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the oxygen shortage in hospitals as Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori today exhorted all the private hospitals and industries to install pressure swing adsorption (PSA) based oxygen plants in their premises.
Divulging the details, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said that it was the need of the hour to adopt oxygen-saving methods to ensure that sufficient amounts of this precious life-saving gas were available to Covid-19 patients. He stated that all the private hospitals and industries were asked to install PSA oxygen plants, which would help Covid care institutions to meet the requisite oxygen requirements.
In another development, the deputy commissioner further shares a presentation with oxygen vendors and hospitals to adopt practices of rational utilization of oxygen. These methods include correct identification and re-classification of patients as per their oxygen requirements, understanding the centralized supply system and eliminating wastage, segregating patients not requiring O2 at the separate floor, speeding up the installation process of air separation units (ASUs) in hospitals, method of emptying liquid oxygen from containers to prevent wastage, and others, the DC said.
The deputy commissioner further asked all private hospitals to postpone elective surgeries in their respective institutions to ensure sufficient availability of oxygen to Covid-19 patients across facilities. Mr. Thori also allowed the supply of oxygen to nine industry segments only after fulfilling the hospitals' requirements.
These industries include Ampoules & Vials, pharmaceuticals, Petroleum refineries, Steel Plants, Nuclear Energy Facilities, Oxygen Cylinder Manufacturers, Wastewater Treatment Plants, Food & Water Purification, and Process Industries which require the uninterrupted operation of furnaces, process, etc, he added. The DC said that the supply to these industries would only be made after written approval from Assistant Commissioner Hardeep Singh and Deputy Commissioner Local Government Darbara Singh, who have been appointed as nodal officers in this matter.
Notably, the district administration has already requested health department to provide one liquid oxygen tanker (16 MT) per day to meet the daily demand of oxygen gas in Jalandhar district. A letter in this regard was already sent to MD Punjab Health Systems Corporation on April 19, 2021 to provide additional supply of liquid oxygen.