Ventilators to be used to reduce oxygen demand

To reduce the increasing demand for oxygen, ventilators will be used instead of High Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO), Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar has said.

Speaking to the media here after chairing a video conference with district health officers, district surgeons, deans and directors of medical colleges and super speciality hospitals in all districts, the minister said that patients with moderate symptoms need about 20-60 litres of oxygen per minute.

"So, we have to find ways to reduce dependence on oxygen and hence we are trying to utilise non-invasive ventilators as an alternative which is more effective. This will reduce the oxygen demand by 80% and all patients on HFNO will be be shifted to ventilator beds," explained the minister.

As a result of continuous efforts to ramp up health infrastructure in the past six to eight months, 50 oxygenated beds have been set up in every taluk hospital. "We also have about six ventilators in each taluk hospital. However due to lack of specialist manpower, oxygen is being used in spite of availability of ventilators," he added.

"To address this issue we are recruiting anaesthetists and doctors on contract basis. All Covid hospitals have been asked to install CCTV cameras within a week. This will help remote monitoring and also ensure efficient use of beds," the minister said.

"Fatality rate is high in some districts and we are finding out reasons for this. Early detection and treatment is the key to recovery and prevent causalities. The positivity rate in the state is 33.09% and our aim is to bring it down to 5%," he added.