Amid supply crisis, Delhi government to maintain buffer stock of oxygen

New Delhi: With many hospitals struggling with dangerously low levels of oxygen supply, the Delhi government has decided to maintain a buffer stock of the gas to be used during extremely critical situations.

The Centre has enhanced the daily quota of medical oxygen for Delhi from 378 MT to 480 MT.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Thursday appointed three senior IAS officers as nodal officers to ensure smooth distribution and supply of oxygen to various hospitals in the city.

"The hospitals will be able to receive liquid medical oxygen from the buffer stock only under critical situation when their supplies are alarmingly low to meet the needs of three hours or less," said a Delhi government officer.

Each hospital will designate one of their senior staff to serve as a nodal officer related to oxygen matters, who will also maintain data and make request for emergency supply from buffer stock in critical situation.

The hospitals will also have to conduct an oxygen audit to find out reasons for excess use of it. Some hospitals have been found using more oxygen than the prescribed guideline of the central government, the officer said.

A detailed record of liquid medical oxygen and cylinders, consumption and delivery will be maintained by the hospitals and shared with the health department on daily basis, he stated.

The hospitals are being assigned a daily quota of oxygen that will be reviewed and revised periodically. Also, the suppliers of liquid oxygen will require to maintain and share daily reports to the concerned officials on daily basis, he added.