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Panic among patients in Jammu as oxygen supply in GMC wards run out

Jammu, 14-September-2020

Amidst steep rise in the amount of COVID-19 cases in Jammu, reports of an absence of oxygen facility at the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu, has pressed panic button among the patients. Gatherings of explicit patients have taken to social media, mentioning that the administration must intervene in the issue.
Eminently, according to authentic information, the most noteworthy number of single-day cases (875) were accounted for from Jammu last night. There were 811 recorded COVID-19 cases from Kashmir Division, taking the all-out count of cases in the Union Territory to 54,096 on Sunday evening. With the increase in the number of cases, a greater number of patients are being taken to hospitals. As a result, the oxygen supply has suffered.
A father and young lady couple from the Gandhi Nagar domain of Jammu had tested positive for COVID-19 on August 23, and were moved to GMC clinical facility. The woman, who has now attempted negative and is at home, clarified on the "shocking" contribution with which she saw patients lying on the floor.
"What I saw was frightful. I saw patients lying on the floor of the isolation ward because of the nonappearance of beds. At around 12 PM, I went to watch out for my father as I was unable to rest. It was then that I comprehended that there was no oxygen. I kept hollering for help yet no one came to attend for a long duration of 15 minutes. I saw a patient's pulse dropping before me. I can generally recall it," she said.
The woman added that the hospital had a dearth of medical staff as she did not see a senior doctor in the 15 days she was isolated at the hospital. �There were only two doctors on duty in the morning and two in the evening. They would rarely enter the ward until we cried for help,� she added.
A woman by the name of Jyotsna Kohli took to Twitter to post about the downfall of her father in-law on account of the nonappearance of oxygen effortlessly. Her tweet read: �I am from Jammu and want to request you to please do something for Jammu province as COVID is not being handled properly in Jammu. I just lost my father-in-law due to no medical facility. Doctors are not available in GMC to treat COVID patients. No oxygen supply (sic).�
In another tweet, she made that even "little adolescents and youths are passing on because of no medical facility, no staff in GMC Jammu, no oxygen supply. Please do something (sic).�
In one more tweet, a man named Farooq Amin made on September 8 that the oxygen supply "in COVID wards of GMC Jammu has ended since yesterday night." He added that an alternate supply was needed else patients would be at genuine danger, saying that an intercession by the prosperity office was required else the condition would wind up being "deadly".
Dr. Deepak Kumar, the medical superintendent at GMC Jammu dismissed the claims made by patients saying there was �an adequate supply of oxygen at the hospital�.
He said that the �capacity� of their system was less as compared to the demand but that had been rectified. �There was no dearth of oxygen supply yesterday. I can assure you that we are working on it and we will fill whatever gaps exist,� he added.
Commenting on the status of ventilators and beds in the COVID-wards, Dr. Kumar said that the workplace has 203 beds with 32 in the isolation ward and 50 utilitarian ventilators in the hospital.
However, a maintenance engineer from the hospital accepted that there indeed had been a problem. �Yes, there was lack of oxygen supply but now it has been sorted out. Our vendors were not supplying oxygen regularly but after a bit of pressure they restored it,� he added.
(Text based on NewsClick report)