As the oxygen emergency worsened the Covid crisis, Rajdeep Sardesai, editor of India Today TV Consulting, spoke to Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint MD of the Apollo Hospitals Group, on how to fix it. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: You tweeted this morning. Did you have to tweet for the government to wake up? Has the situation gotten so desperate?
I’m not going to say the situation has become desperate. But I want to say that a hospital administrator who knows that there are two to three hours of oxygen left for hundreds of patients will definitely take every possible step to take action.
I had never done anything like this in my 37 years of work. Basically, I thought it was important. I knew Apollo was going to get oxygen, but what about all the other hospitals and nursing homes? I also want to say that the action took place, whether it was the tweet or the overall scenario. In the current situation Every oxygen tanker must be treated like an ambulance.
“Every oxygen tanker must be treated like an ambulance and be allowed to move quickly. There is no shortage of oxygen in India, there is a shortage of tankers and bottles”: Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Group # COVID-19 #Oxygen #News today | @sardesairajdeep pic.twitter.com/2VPjyHCaUj
– IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) April 22, 2021
Consumption has quintupled, but India has enough oxygen. The shortage is actually in tankers and cylinders. It will take a couple of days. In the meantime, we need to ensure the highest optimization.
Q: If intergovernmental disputes hamper oxygen, what does it say about governance? What about smaller hospitals in cities?
For this reason, in the interests of all hospitals, I asked the authorities to allow tankers to transport them. That was my main request. Things are a little better. Let’s improve the production of cylinders. Many industrial houses use their production oxygen again.
Q: Is it a failure to anticipate a crisis?
We have the fastest surge in Covid-19 cases. There is a unprecedented increase in demand. It’s a very difficult scenario and we have to work together to get out of it. And we don’t just have to protect hospitals, but every patient. That’s what we’re here for.
“We must believe that every life is priceless and must invest in the healthcare industry”: Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo Hospitals, on her biggest discoveries in the past few days# COVID-19 #Coronavirus #COVIDWarriors #News today | @sardesairajdeep pic.twitter.com/kczDasAofT
– IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) April 22, 2021
Q: What has been the biggest learning for you in the last few days?
When we knew we were lacking intensive care beds and many things, we need to think big. We have to believe that every life is priceless. Please invest in the health infrastructure. Don’t ever let this happen to us. Ten days ago I ordered 150 oxygen concentrators. Today I ordered 1,000. Let’s not think small in the context of India. We are a big country. We can and should find a way to stay ahead of everyone else in healthcare. We have the potential to do so.
एक टिप्पणी भेजें