Delhi government procures 125 new ventilators

New Delhi: Delhi government has procured 125 new ventilators for its health facilities after a patient allegedly died at the Lok Nayak Hospital due to lack of it.

“Procured 125 new ventilators against existing 80. Installation likely in 15-20 days,” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Monday.

Following reports that ambu-bags — manual hand-held devices that support breathing — were being used to resuscitate patients at Delhi government-run hospitals, health minister Satyendar Jain drew the chief minister’s ire on Sunday.

“Satyendar, this is unacceptable,” Mr Kejriwal had tweeted. But shifting the blame on the health secretary, Mr Jain said on Twitter: “There is a death in the Lok Nayak Hospital due to the negligence. I requested the health secretary to visit the hospital with me. He refused to come saying unavailability of a vehicle.”

After receiving information about the death in Lok Nayak Hospital on Saturday, Mr Jain had asked the health secretary to accompany him, sources said. They said that the secretary later reached the hospital in an auto rickshaw. “Shameful. The L-G has appointed the most incompetent, useless n insensitive IAS officer as health secy,” Mr Jain had said following chief minister’s Sunday evening outburst on Twitter. The Federation of Resident Doctor’s Association of Delhi, Indian Medical Association, and Delhi Medical Council had condemned the use of ambu-bags.