Maharashtra: Hospital Staff Save 14 Lives After Oxygen Leak

Maharashtra Hospital Staff: The staff of a hospital in Maharashtra's Parbhani district made sure to take quick action and save the lives of 14 critical patients after a tree fell on an oxygen pipeline.

The pipeline supporting several COVID-19 patients and others started to leak, on Tuesday night when a tree fell on it. Noticing the damage, the hospital staff procured jumbo oxygen cylinders and shifted the patients on it, the district's Deputy Collector Sanjay Kundetkar said.

He said, "Around 11.30 pm, a branch of a tree fell on the pipeline which carries medical oxygen from the storage tank to the casualty and burns ward of the hospital, which caused leakage.

He added that the faulty pipeline was switched off later for repairing, "The fault was detected and simultaneously 14 patients admitted in the casualty section were shifted on jumbo oxygen cylinders for breathing. The supply of oxygen was switched off for repairing the leak."

According to the Deputy Collector, the patients were deprived of oxygen for merely 2-3 minutes and the pipeline was restored by technicians within two hours. He also confirmed that no casualty was reported.

"No casualty was reported in this incident. The oxygen supply was restored around 4 am."

Recently the COVID-19 crisis had led to medical oxygen shortage in the country as it proved to be life-saving for critical patients. There have also several reports of leakage from different parts of the country. In Maharashtra, close to 22 patients succumbed to death in a civic hospital in Nashik where a storage plant leaked on April 21.

Many individuals have come forward to do their bit in procuring oxygen cylinders for COVID-19 patients. Many celebrities, non-government organisations and countries such as New Zealand, Canada and many other nations have come forward to help India in recovering from the crisis brought by the second wave of COVID-19.