O2 to be supplied to all wards through pipelines

SILIGURI: From now on, oxygen through pipelines will be provided to every bed in Siliguri District Hospital. The work of setting up of the oxygen pipelines is complete. Oxygen will be supplied to the beds in all the wards through the pipelines. This service is scheduled to start next month, stated Chandan Ghosh, the Superintendent of the hospital.

“Till now, the service to supply oxygen through pipelines was only available in a few emergency wards. Now, we are setting up pipelines in every ward, through which oxygen will be supplied to each bed. We will start the service by April,” Ghosh added.

The Siliguri District Hospital is an important government hospital in Siliguri. Thousands of people come to the hospital for treatment. Among them, many patients are in need of oxygen.

Until now, oxygen pipelines were there in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU). The others were provided oxygen through cylinders. The process of supply through cylinders is cumbersome with the need to change them when empty. It requires constant monitoring.

To ease the process, the hospital authorities started the work of setting up of the pipelines at the beginning of this year. A control room is being set up at the hospital premises, from where the oxygen will be supplied to every ward. It is noted that, currently, there are 444 beds in the hospital. Every day, about 350 to 400 patients get admitted to this hospital.

According to the Superintendent of the hospital, oxygen will be supplied through pipelines in all 12 wards including Male medical, Female medical, Isolation, Postnatal Care Unit, Emergency, Dialysis, Department of Obstetrics. Initially oxygen will be supplied to 10 beds in each ward. Later, all the beds will be included.

Incidentally, an oxygen plant was set up at the district hospital when oxygen was in short supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plant produces 1000 litres of oxygen per day.