'How long after patient dies should we send SOS?'

New Delhi: As the Jaipur Golden Hospital in the Delhi High Court on Monday responded to the Delhi government's call for not sending out SOS messages unless urgent by asking, "How long after patient dies should we send out SOS?", several other small hospitals in the city continued to grapple with the oxygen shortage with many like Astha hospital asking ICU patients to arrange oxygen cylinders on their own.

One patient had died at Astha hospital by 9:30 pm due to a lack of oxygen and authorities said the lives of 30 others hung in the balance.

Vimhans Niyati hospital in Lajpat Nagar also sent out SOS calls because the lives of 175 oxygen-dependent patients were in danger. Minutes before the supply would have run out, the Inox tanker reached hospital premises and another government tanker is expected to follow soon.

Irene hospital in Kalkaji also sent out SOS calls at around 4 pm saying that they only had 15 min of oxygen supply left and firefighting measures had got them four cylinders to last a few hours.

Jaipur Golden hospital said on Monday afternoon that they had been trying to get in touch with INOX since the morning to ensure that their daily oxygen supply reaches on time but that they had not received any response or dispatch note. However, AAP leader Raghav Chadha assured that reserves would reach the hospital soon.