Bhubaneswar: Following public outrage over dearth of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines in state-run hospitals, the state government has decided to install the critical infrastructure at various government hospitals in a phased manner.
In the first phase, six such machines would be installed at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, to provide treatment to critically-ill Covid-19 patients, said Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) CBK Mohanty while speaking to media here Monday.
“Earlier, the ECMO treatment was very limited and the cost was also not very high. But, the need for the machines has increased manifold during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. We are making arrangements to install six machines at SCB Medical College and Hospital for critical Covid patients,” said Mohanty.
Later, such units will be opened at various healthcare facilities in other parts of the state, he said.
“Procuring the machines is not an issue. The problem lies with availability of trained manpower to run ECMO machines. After opening of the ECMO units in Cuttack, required trained manpower will be created and accordingly they will be deployed in other places,” the director added.
Sources said Odisha State Medical Corporation (OSMC) has formed a six-member technical committee for installation of the machines at SCB. The machines are likely to be installed at the ICU units of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery (CTVS) department of SCB Medical College and Hospital.
In the prevailing Covid-19 situation, there is huge demand for ECMO treatment especially for critical patients suffering from lung ailment.
As the ECMO facility is not available in government-run hospitals in the state, many patients have been airlifted to cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata to avail the treatment.
Lack of this machine in the state has come to fore after former MLA Naveen Nanda’s son Sambit Nanda breathed his last due to Covid-19. Before Sambit succumbed to serious lung infection, his father made a desperate plea to the state government to save his son’s life by facilitating ECMO support because the hospital where he was undergoing treatment lacked the facility.
Recently, Amrit Pradhan, a young engineer from Berhampur, was airlifted to Chennai for lung transplantation.
The advanced treatment with ECMO which can cost around `2 lakh per day is generally used on a critical patient when his/her body fails to respond to almost all types of oxygenation support in the wake of serious lung infection and pneumonia.
The state government always makes tall claims that it has taken all the steps in advance due to which Covid-19 situation is under control. Now, questions are being raised from several quarters as to why the government has not yet taken any initiative to install ECMO machines in any of the government hospitals.