10 of 52 UP hospitals wasting oxygen: IIT-Kanpur report

Kanpur (UP): At a time when several states are grappling with the shortage of life saving gas, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has submitted a report to the state government that out of 52 hospitals from various districts in UP, 10 were found to be wasting oxygen or using more than the required amount per patient.

The team's report was based on the oxygen wastage in hospitals across Uttar Pradesh during the month of May.

According to the report, the list of hospitals was provided by the government with most of them being state-run hospitals.

Those from the NCR districts included in the study were Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida, NCR Institute of Medical Sciences and LLRM in Meerut, Santosh Medical College in Ghaziabad and Rama Medical College in Hapur. However, none of these were found to be using excessive oxygen.

The team collected information on the different kinds of instruments the hospitals used for supply of oxygen, amount of oxygen used and the number of patients using the oxygen.

This was compared to the standard usage to find where the consumption was excessive.

Professor Manindra Agrawal, deputy director of IIT Kanpur who was heading the study, said, "There are different kinds of equipment for oxygen supply - various kinds of masks and ventilators. All of these have standard consumption rates. We compared these standards with the average daily consumption in these hospitals and found that 10 hospitals had been using excessive amounts. We have submitted the findings to the state to take further corrective steps."

He added that maximum wastage was found while using the High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC).

"The study did not mention reasons for the wastage and it needs to be investigated further. However, the wastage could be because of leakage if the mask is not adjusted properly and has been left unmonitored," said Agrawal.