Acute nasal cannula crisis has brought agony among corona patients and the hospital authorities in Bogura.
The nasal cannula crisis has been persisting at corona dedicated Government Mohammad Ali Hospital, Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital and Tengamara Medical College and Rofatulla Hospital since Thursday.
Some six people died due to the high-flow nasal cannula crisis at Mohammad Ali Hospital and seven patients died of corona at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital and seven patients at Tengamara Medical College and Rofatulla Hospital during the last 72 hours, said the hospital authorities.
Earlier, there were only two nasal cannulas in the 6-bed ICU unit of Mohammad Ali Hospital. It was not possible to provide high levels of oxygen according to the needs of the patients.
The authority concerned fell in a dire situation as the patients from Bogura, Naogaon and Joypurhat districts have been admitted to these hospitals with corona symptoms.
The 250-bed Mohammad Ali Hospital was dedicated in late March 2020 to treat corona patients. At that time, corona patients were given oxygen through cylinders. But when the situation became difficult to handle, at the end of June of the same year, a 50-bed corona unit with high oxygen supply was introduced at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College (SZRMC) Hospital.
Later, the number of beds in SZRMCH Hospital increased to 100 beds including 13 ICUs. But as the patients' pressure continued to rise, the central oxygen supply at Mohammad Ali Hospital resumed in April this year.
Shafiq Amin Kajal, a resident physician at Mohammad Ali Hospital, said it was possible to provide a corona patient with only 5 litres of oxygen per minute with a face mask. On the other hand, 15 litres of oxygen can be supplied per minute with Ribridar mask. And with high flow nasal cannula, a patient can be given 60 litres of oxygen per minute.
Considering the sufferings of patients a leading business group of the country has donated 20 high-flow nasal cannulas (high-oxygen delivery devices) to critically ill patients at Government Mohammad Ali Hospital and Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital on Saturday.
Deputy Director of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital Abdul Wadud said, "Due to the increase in the number of patients, an initiative has been taken to increase the number of beds by another 100. The women's medicine ward of the hospital is being prepared for this. If all goes well, admission of patients will start Sunday".
