Covid19 National Telangana

5 patients waiting for ventilator bed in hospitals

Hyderabad: Officials said that five patients from Hyderabad are waiting to be admitted for each ventilator bed.

The sharp increase in the number of critical cases has pushed the demand for ventilators to an all-time high.

While private hospitals turn away patients by saying there are no beds, a long waiting list for ventilators at three covid-designated government hospitals – Gandhi Hospital, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (TIMS), and King Koti Hospital.

“Not a single ventilator is free. Although many Vacated through the day, there are least 5-6 more patients waiting for each ventilator. A top doctor at Gandhi Hospital said that the beds filling up in minutes.

“In fact, when a patient dies, waiting for a ventilator to become free has now become a norm,”

Telangana has an estimated 4,000 ventilator beds in both private and government sectors.

On Sunday, the state had an active caseload of 63,000, and the Ministry of Health says that 2% of infected patients require ventilators.

Private hospitals, whether small or large, are in the same boat, but have a shorter waiting list as their patients turn to several hospitals at the same time.

Apart from patients coming from various other hospitals in the city, most of the serious patients in the districts are redirected to the city hospitals and tertiary care centers.

“While many district hospitals have ventilator beds, they are unable to use them due to lack of other supporting departments and are forced to send them to Hyderabad. As a result of this, the President of the Junior Doctors Association (Juda) at Gandhi Hospital, Dr. Sasidhar Reddy said that there is a continuous shortage of ventilator beds.

Studies comparing the first and second wave show that the percentage of covid patients is similar.

“The issue here is the sheer volume of patients, which has increased rapidly and suddenly. Our healthcare structure was already fragile and completely overwhelmed by the volume of serious patients.
Furthermore, there is no significant increase in the number of oxygen, ICU, or ventilator beds now compared to the first wave and consequently we have a shortage,many patients waiting for a ventilator, ”Dr. P. Raghu Ram, Said the public health expert and director of the KIMS Ushalakshmi Center for Breast Diseases.

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