Nagpur: A major tragedy was averted when the on-duty staff of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) detected a leakage in the oxygen line in the Kidney Ward of the hospital on Monday night. The leak was fixed quickly, according to media reports. At least five patients were admitted in the Kidney Ward and all of them were on oxygen support, said reports.
According to GMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Atul Rajkondawar, the key which is used to start and stop the oxygen supply valve faced some malfunction, due to which the leakage started. As soon as the on-duty staff noticed it, all the patients in the ward were shifted to the ICU and other wards. Dialysis facility is available at the beds where these patients have been shifted.
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Thursday 09 Jan. 2025
The reports further said that the GMCH administration also took quick action on Tuesday and closed the entire oxygen supply line of the kidney ward and repaired it in total. No patient was admitted into this ward throughout the day on Tuesday. The relatives of the patients said they were not aware about the leakage but the on-duty staff detected it. “The staff immediately shifted our patients to the ICU which surprised us. Later, we were told that there was oxygen leakage in the kidney ward which will be repaired soon. Our patients are safe,” said one of the relatives.
Senior doctors at GMCH said the supply line of the Kidney Ward is very old. GMCH got new supply lines and oxygen generation plants during Covid times but the supply lines in some of the old wards were not renewed. Such old supply lines may develop leakages and the permanent solution is to replace them completely, said a senior doctor.
Oxygen leakage in hospitals could result in major fire incidents. Many such accidents happened during the pandemic in Maharashtra and claimed many lives.
