24/7 oxygen cell to be set up in each Karnataka district

KEY STORY

• To manage and distribute medical oxygen efficiently and transparently at all levels, the State Government has decided to set up an oxygen cell at each district, which will function 24/7.

• The cell will coordinate with hospitals and meet their demand if there is any shortage.The State has a daily allocation of 965 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen from the Centre, while it requires 1,500 MT per day.

• The State already has a 24×7 State Oxygen Unit and a 24/7 State Oxygen Helpline at the Drug Controller Head Office in Bengaluru. The new cell will be set up at all districts. The cell will keep a watch on all the re-fillers in their district as well as those from other districts who supply oxygen to their district.

CONCLUSION

• It needs to monitor oxygen supplies at the re-filler level and also hospitals. It should keep a database of all hospitals in the district, their oxygen requirement and oxygen suppliers. In the BBMP limit, the cell is to be set up in each zone.

• Hospitals across Karnataka are facing severe oxygen supply crisis, while coping with the second wave, like in other parts of the country. This has led to unfortunate deaths of COVID patients in the state hospitals and wrangling among districts, and some last minute saving of dire situation in Bengaluru.