Like all doctors, I studied infectious diseases, past & present, it is necessary to know about them. Many are less well known because they have been conquered. But no past disease has demanded so much oxygen as COVID. No hospital has been designed to supply so much oxygen. Ever.
I had the privilege of studying in JIPMER, Pondicherry. That hospital had "Oxygen beds" in every ward - but I think only one in 3 was one such. More than that was not required. ICUs were only coming into vogue back then (1970s). There were no pulse oximeters.
In the 1980s in the UK many of the older buildings had no "oxygen beds". Such diseases were unknown. COVID is unprecedented in that sense. We all read how doctors in Europe took decisions about not ventilating some and letting them die. Imagine that in India? We dont do that here
Throughout my 40 year career I worked in hospitals that had no need for a central oxygen generator. There are 3 ways to supply oxygen. One is simply to put a cylinder next to a patient.
The second, used in bigger hospitals is a central "oxygen bank" with 10 or 20 large oxygen cylinders connected in parallel. These last from days to weeks and as they star getting empty, the hospital orders a new set, managing with a reserve set as the new set arrives.
In 40 years, working on 2 continents & over 50 different hospitals from large teaching hospitals to small nursing homes we never ran short of oxygen. Oxygen generating units were a rarity. Never the norm. They require power and in India - power supplies were undependable
When people ask "Why does every hospital not have an oxygen generator" - I want to point out that these machines were invented in the 1970s and did not become available or affordable till decades later. Today people speak of them as if they have been known since Sushruta times
Do look up and read how oxygen generators work. Great invention but unlike cylinders they stop working if there is no power supply. So you need back up power. Every hospital has back up power - but how much. What load will it take? Lighting, sterilizers, lifts, operating theatres
Remember that Oxygen generators are electromechanical devices. They also need power so bigger generators in case power fails. They are machines. They need servicing and can fail. For these reasons all hospitals must and should have cylinder Oxygen supply. Now talk space and cost
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