E-Paper
9 months on, 26 ventilators sent to DMCH set to go live
DARBHANGA Stung by reports that 26 ventilators supplied under PM Cares Fund were still lying unused for the last nine months, officials of the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), the largest government hospital in north Bihar, were not being used in the absence of any “plan or guidelines
DARBHANGA
Stung by reports that 26 ventilators supplied under PM Cares Fund were still lying unused for the last nine months, officials of the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), the largest government hospital in north Bihar, were not being used in the absence of any “plan or guidelines.”
The state had got 207 ventilators in March 2020 for its different health facilities.
On May 2 this year, as per health department sources, permission was granted for installation of some of the ventilators at private hospitals and two dozens were installed thereafter. A health department official said that state requires at least 144 anaesthetists to run these ventilators but Bihar has only 77.
State health minister Mangal Pandey, while talking to some media persons earlier, had admitted to the shortage of expert hands to run the ventilators.
AT the DMCH, on April 26, technical experts from Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (BMSICL) handed over 24-bed ICU facility equipped with ventilators to the DMCH administration. “The installation work had to be accomplished by BMSICL. We are trying our best to utilise the equipment with full support from district administration,” said an insider of DMCH, preferring anonymity.
A successful dry run of newly installed ventilators was completed in the first week of May. However, there were some technical glitches, which caused delay in the installation of equipment.
DMCH principal Dr K N Mishra said they were working towards it amid the second wave of pandemic. “We have to start Covid Care Hospital in Nursing College and Hostel. The newly installed ICU facility has been set up in a building which was originally constructed for teaching purposes. For the installation of ventilators, entire electrical wiring and oxygen supply system was needed to be modified.”
DMCH superintendent Dr Mani Bhushan Sharma said in all likelihood, the new ICU facility equipped with new ventilators would become functional in a day or two.
The ICU in-charge, Dr Hari Damodar Singh, said the newly built ICU could not be utilised properly soon after installation due to huge quantity of oxygen required in running the machines. In order to keep all the ventilators in running condition, the ICU requires a steady oxygen supply of 250 cylinders. Hence, the DMCH administration decided to manage all patients judiciously.
“As of now, the oxygen supply chain has improved drastically. We hope to start them within a day or two,” he said.
In the meantime, eight-bed ICU facility equipped with ventilators at Trauma Centre is available for patients, the ICU in-charge said, adding that one of the bed was lying vacant on Thursday.
An official, requesting anonymity, also alleged that Centrally supplied ventilators had shown poor performance.
A DMCH doctor said the new 25-bed ICU set up at ground floor failed to sustain the sensitive functioning of ventilators initially due to the lack of commensurate pressure of oxygen, which has been rectified now.
