Close call for 130 Covid patients at JLNM Hospital as oxygen plant develops technical snag

Srinagar: A major tragedy was averted at Jawaharlal Lal Nehru Memorial (JLNM) Hospital here after its oxygen plant developed a snag putting the lives of 130 Covid patients admitted in the hospital at risk.

Witnesses informed that around 11 am, the oxygen plant stopped functioning halting medical oxygen supply to 130 Covid patients admitted in the hospital.

“My father who is on high-flow oxygen gasped for breath as the oxygen plant developed some fault. There was hue and cry as attendants panicked to see patients in distress. It was a scary situation,” said an attendant.

“I thought my mother was going to die as she started breathing heavily. I called concerned doctors and they informed me that the oxygen plant had stopped functioning. We had a heated argument about how the administration can be so callous that the vital oxygen plant all of sudden will stop pumping oxygen putting lives on risk,” said another attendant.

As per the officials, there are 130 Covid patients admitted in JLNM, out of which 90 are on high flow oxygen and 8 in Intensive Care Units undergoing treatment.

Dr Bilquis Shah, COVID-19 nodal officer of the JLNM hospital, said “fortunately the snag was rectified within five minutes.” “There was a technical glitch for five minutes. The oxygen plant was shut as the electricity went off. It was the fault of the Mechanical department which had not put the plant on auto mode, as a result of which it took them time to restart the oxygen plant on the generator,” she said.

“It is a grave mistake. Thankfully there was no loss of human life, but many patients had de-saturated as their saturation level had come down,” she added.

“I have 130 patients all are on oxygen support, even few minutes of disruption in oxygen supply can be fatal,” she said adding that “I have taken up the issue with the Divisional Commissioner and other higher authorities as the situation could have turned bad. Despite gazetted holiday luckily I was in the hospital. I was manhandled by around 60 attendants. But it is not their fault as their loved ones were gasping for breath inside the hospital.”

She said that the hospital administration had already flagged some issues regarding the maintenance of the oxygen plant, “which were not heeded to.”