Farmers Movement Archive

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation scrambles at hospital’s SOS call

AHMEDABAD: Around midnight on Monday, the alarm was raised by Shifa Hospital in Jamalpur, where 25 patients on ventilators and oxygen were running out of supply. “There was just an hour of oxygen left and a message was received at 12.33am,” said an Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) official at the newly set up oxygen control room. MLA Gyasuddin Sheikh made a few desperate calls and tweeted, tagging the official handle of the AMC. Civic officials were quick to respond and by 12.44am a van arrived with 10 jumbo oxygen cylinders. “Their liquid oxygen tank had technical issues and was not functional,” said the AMC official. The cylinders were provided from SVP Hospital stock. Meanwhile, officials arranged for the refilling of 20 more cylinders, which continued till 2.30am. “The whole operation got over in a little over two hours.” The AMC has teamed with Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) and Gujarat FDCA to form a 24-hour oxygen helpline. In all, the helpline ensured refilling of 370 cylinders between 10pm on Sunday and 6pm on Monday. The control room attended to 32 calls seeking help in oxygen logistics. These included calls from Pushya Hospital in Navrangpura, Central United Hospital in Odhav, Singhu Hospital and Savior Hospital in Navrangpura and SBM hospital in Motera.

The Times of India

2021-04-27

Ahmedabad