A day after three patients died at the Civil Hospital here, Punjab Health System Corporation Director Dr Anil Goyal on Monday said a glitch in the oxygen supply at the hospital lasted 25 to 30 minutes.During a visit to the Civil Hospital, Dr Goyal said the multiple back-up mechanism for the supply of oxygen had developed a snag. He maintained, “All three patients were in serious condition. One of them had both lungs compromised. The snakebite victim was struggling for the past 10 days. The drug overdose patient was also getting repeated convulsions and was on a ventilator.” He said the sudden deterioration in their condition in a short span called for an inquiry.’Alarm non-functional’Even as senior officials of the Civil Hospital along with the PHSC Director maintained that the patients’ health condition was a key factor in their deaths, a visit to the Trauma Centre revealed maintenance of equipment was not up to the markSenior hospital officials told The Tribune that the alarm censors weren’t functioning for a monthAn oil spill was seen at the PSA plant, which supplies oxygen to the Trauma Centre, after one of the plant compressors developed a problem on Sunday night. The repair was underway at 3 pm on Monday. Those repairing the compressors said the problem seemed to have persisted for long.The Health Director said detailed records about the last repairs and upgrades at the plant had been sought and would be included in the probe reportTwo probe committees had already been formed to look into the cause of deaths. A nine-member committee under Dr Raj Kumar Baddhan, Medical Superintendent, Jalandhar Civil Hospital, is expected to come out with a report by Tuesday. A state-level committee, announced by Health Minister Balbir Singh, will be headed by the PSHC Director.While doctors had on Sunday insisted that the oxygen plant glitch was immediately fixed, the PHSC Director’s statement raised questions over the alarm system, which beep immediately in case of low oxygen supply or pressure, a mechanism which seemingly failed to function on Sunday night.He said, “The first patient showed the sign of deteriorating health at 6.35 pm. Soon after, the other two patients reported issues. Ventilator readings showed the cause as oxygen pressure having gone down. Oxygen concentrators are also there. We are probing if all systems were working or not.”When asked why didn’t the alarm ring when the oxygen pressure dipped, he said, “It is a matter of inquiry.” Meanwhile, the bodies were handed over to the patients’ families.Congress MLAs Bawa Henry and Pargat Singh asked why was post-mortem examination not performed on the patients. To this, Dr Goyal replied, “We can’t force it on the patients’ kin. The families were asked, but they refused to get the autopsy conducted.”Henry said it would be difficult to ascertain the exact cause of deaths without a post-mortem examination.The two Congress MLAs and state BSP president Avtar Singh Karimpuri have sought an independent inquiry into it.Rights panel seeks reportTaking a suo motu cognisance of the deaths at the hospital, the Punjab State and Chandigarh Human Rights Commission has sought a report from the Director, Health Services and Family Welfare, Punjab, and the Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, on the incident a week before October 17, the next date of hearing on the matter.
Deaths at Jalandhar hospital: Oxygen supply remained cut off for 30 minutes, says Health Director
