Many Covid-19 patients in home isolation in Taratala, New Alipore and Behala are heading to a gurdwara instead of a hospital when gasping for breath.
Once at the gurdwara, a patient’s vital parameters are being checked by a team of paramedics. People in need of oxygen are then being let into a camp and provided with oxygen.
Once stable, the patient is going back home. If still critical, a team of volunteers is scouting for a hospital bed.
A week into its launch, a free oxygen supply service at Gurdwara Behala has served hundreds of people, many of them critical. One of them is Malati Saha, a 59-year-old homemaker in Sahapur Colony in New Alipore.
Malati had tested positive for Covid-19 on May 12. Her oxygen saturation level dipped to 91 a day later. “When I called up the doctor, he advised immediate oxygen intake. I checked with many pharmacies and private dealers but in vain. I came to know about Behala Gurdwara from a WhatsApp message,” said Malati’s 37-year-old son, Rony.
Rony took her mother to the oxygen camp, carved out of a portion of the ground floor of the gurdwara, around 8.30pm on May 13. Since then, she has been visiting the camp every day, where she is being provided with oxygen for six hours at a stretch.
“Her oxygen saturation level has risen to 98 now. She is stable. The doctor has asked to reduce the intake from Tuesday. These people are like angels. I shudder to think what would have happened to my mother without their help,” said Rony, who owns a small grocery store in Behala.
The camp, named “Oxygen Langar Sewa”, is an initiative of IHA Foundation. The project is an extension of Langar on Wheels, a campaign to provide freshly cooked meals to underprivileged people during the lockdown last year.
Gurdwara Behala, IHA Foundation and Kolkata Response Group had organised the drive, which continued even beyond the lockdown phase and fed close to three million people, said organisers.
The new centre has oxygen cylinders which form a gas bank. Each cylinder is connected to an outlet which has a flow meter to maintain the flow of oxygen given to the patients.
“At a time, oxygen can be supplied to a dozen people inside the camp. We also have oxygen concentrators. They are being used to serve senior citizens who are sitting in their vehicles outside the gurdwara,” said a volunteer of the IHA Foundation.
The camp is equipped with oximeters, blood pressure measurement machines, glucometers, thermometers and all other equipment to check the basic parameters of a patient. Most of those who go there are in desperate need of oxygen, but are unable to find a bed in hospital or arrange an oxygen cylinder by themselves.
Bengal’s health administrators are worried about a tendency among a section of people to stock oxygen cylinders and concentrators at home fearing that someone in the family might need them after contracting Covid. Home healthcare providers, who either sell or rent out oxygen concentrators and cylinders, said their stock was exhausted because of the panic reaction.
“We are getting 40-50 patients every day,” said Arabinda Bera, a doctor leading a team of volunteers and paramedics at the gurdwara. “We are ramping up the infrastructure so that we can also provide basic treatment to Covid-19 patients with comorbidities till they get a bed at a hospital,” said Bera.
The bulk of the oxygen is being supplied by a private company at a concessional rate, said organisers.
“During the day we receive a lot of calls. The rush starts from the evening when patients’ families come after exhausting all avenues. The doors of our gurdwara are open to everyone,” said Satnam Singh Ahluwalia, the chairman of the IHA Foundation and general secretary of Gurdwara Behala.
The “Oxygen Langar” will soon have another unit inside Nakhoda Mosque. “We are in the final stages of discussions with the mosque administration,” said Ahluwalia.
Gurdwara Behala launched two helplines on Monday, they are — 9830200026 and 9830200029.
