GIVE A BRIEF REPORT ABOUT THE CHEMICAL PLANTS/ UNITS PRODUCING MEDICAL
OXYGEN TO BE SUPPLIED TO HOSPITALS FOR TREATING COVID PATIENTS.
Answers
Explanation:
Optimal medical infrastructure utilization became a high priority for Governments worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention is drawn to both the import and local manufacture of medical oxygen gas to ensure its uninterrupted supply to designated COVID-hospitals identified by the local administration. The paper apprises on the administrative and regulatory orders to control the supply and transportation of medical oxygen gas by examining its implementation in India in general and the State of Andhra Pradesh in particular. The paper enhances understanding of the working of governmental administrative systems amidst the emergency. The observations and findings from the research work can be vital inputs to Governmental institutions, regulatory bodies, the industry, and various other stakeholders dealing with medical oxygen gas so that policy Governments across the world attended medical emergencies triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like several other countries, India, the second-most populous country, battled for optimal usage of medical infrastructures, such as hospital beds, medical oxygen, and others [1]. This pandemic required different kinds of facility to handle patients from distance [2] while prediction of lockdown period also had importance as discussed [3].
Apart from its industrial usage, oxygen is used for various medical purposes - from general medicine administration to medical assistance and emergency procedures. Oxygen is a critical element for human life existence, and because of its natural availability through the air, it is sometimes forgotten to be a life-saving essential medicine. The timely availabilityof medical oxygen is a decider of life and death for the patient. Hospitals are always giving priority over the rest regarding the continuous availability of medical oxygen. Medical Oxygen is a critical ingredient in treating certain critical health conditions such as pneumonia, malaria, sepsis, and meningitis. Children and mothers are often administered medical oxygen to ease breathing when their lives are at risk during medical treatment. Its importance once grew more during the COVID-19 pandemic because of its close association with the respiratory system [4]. High-flow nasal oxygen is found to be a safe and efficient treatment for COVID-19 patients who are not in an ICU [5]. The WHO says that 15 percent of COVID-19 patients require medical oxygen because of breathing difficulties [6]. Silent hypoxia patients do not show any evident respiratory distress but experience sudden dangerously low oxygen levels [7]. NIH recommends high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen over non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) [8]. Some critically ill patients even require a ventilator. However, the available number of ventilators is too low. This forced medical equipment manufacturers to quickly go into production mode.