Prior to ICU deaths, oxygen supply firm cut staff at Ambedkar Hospital

A senior official in the Health department said: "The problem with STC was that the primary source of oxygen in the supply system were the oxygen cylinders, which store oxygen in gaseous form. At the other hospitals, the primary source of oxygen are tanks storing liquid oxygen. Their capacity is much more than the gas cylinders, and last 3-4 days even in super specialty centres."

The official said the oxygen cylinders in these hospitals were treated as a back-up, to be used only while the liquid oxygen cylinders were being refilled, or in case of an emergency.

The company had also installed the central gas supply systems at AIIMS Trauma Centre and the Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH) at AIIMS.

It has a ten-year contract with AIIMS Trauma Centre and a five-year contract with IRCH to provide staff to operate the systems at both facilities.

Sources confirmed that in both these centres, the liquid oxygen cylinder system was being used.

The medical gas pipeline systems of several private hospitals, including the ones at Fortis Escorts Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, had also been installed by the same company.

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