Tractor drivers, 'key' to Goa's oxygen shortage deaths, have finally arrived!

Officials in charge of oxygen supply at the state's apex health institute, the Goa Medical College, heaved a sigh of relief on Friday evening.

Five tractor trolley operators specially hired by the Goa government from Kolhapur in Maharashtra have finally arrived and are readying to drive oxygen trolleys from the manufacturing unit 20 kilometres away.

Not doctors, not nurses, not cutting-edge medical equipment, the fate of hundreds of patients admitted to the medical college now rests in the hands of the five tractor trolley operators, who according to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant hold the key to rescue the patients on oxygen support at the premier hospital.

75 persons have died in the numerous Covid wards of the overloaded hospital over the last four days. The deaths have occurred in almost clockwork precision, between 2 am and 4 am, due to oxygen shortage.

Sawant has claimed that while the state had adequate oxygen supply, the inability to deliver the oxygen to the hospital was responsible for the deaths. And that is where, according to the Chief Minister, tractor trolley drivers play a key role.

Also read: 13 more Covid-19 patients die at top Goa hospital; toll reaches 75 in four days

However, it is not something one can explain to caregivers like Christine Fernandes.

"The first few nights at the hospital have been frightening as the oxygen was turned off in the nights and patients were dying during this time," Christine Fernandes, whose sister Laura is admitted to Ward 113, said.

Videos of the chaos which plays out in the Covid wards have gone viral on social media. Patients lying cramped in bed, some on the floor on a mattress, others on a plank of cardboard, just about anywhere one can shrivel and lie.

Videos also show oxygen monitors beeping at night, past the midnight mark, like an ill-omen, a signature note of trauma ahead. 75 patients hooked onto the hospital's mechanised oxygen system have died between 2 am to 6 am after oxygen levels dipped dangerously.

But those like Christine who had arranged for an oxygen cylinder also faced trouble. "We had a cylinder, but there was no one to administer the oxygen to my patient," Christine said.

Laura survived the night. Dozens of others have not been able to.

The tragedy caused by the scores of deaths has left a deep imprint on the psyche of Goa.

Also read: Hovering at 37 lakh, active Covid-19 cases plateau across India

Even the Bombay High Court's Goa bench judges expressed pain at not being able to prevent the deaths, despite directing the state administration to take corrective steps virtually every day over the last three days.

In its status report filed on Friday, the Goa government informed the Court about all the efforts being taken by the state administration to prevent any further deaths. And recruitment of tractor trolley drivers tops its list of tasks.

"The government has arranged eight trained and experienced tractor drivers from the neighbouring Kolhapur District of Maharashtra along with two additional high-powered tractors for ferrying the oxygen trolleys between the plant and GMC," the status report submitted to the High Court bench late on Friday reads.

Five drivers have arrived, but three drivers were late in arriving, the report also states. Over the last few days in Goa, barring death, very little else appears to adhere to time.