The Biden administration works and maintains close contact with oxygen providers and home health care agencies, industry trade groups, inter-agency partners and the private sector to closely monitor the situation and support as needed. said a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.
“As Covid has continued to evolve, we have continued to see how Covid’s best care practices continue to evolve, and that has been in part the use of high-flow oxygen versus fans,” according to Donna Craft, CEO of facilities and construction to Premier, a company that improves healthcare performance. “This has had an absolute increase in positive outcomes for patients and better patient care.”
“Normally, an oxygen tank would be about 90% full and suppliers would let them down to a recharging level of 30-40% left in the tank, which would provide them with a three to five day supply cushion. What’s happening now is that hospitals are shrinking by about 10-20%, which is a one- to two-day supply before refilling, ”Cross explained. “Even then, when they refill, they only get a partial fill up to about 40, sometimes 50%.”
The Compressed Gas Association, whose members see three to five times the normal use of oxygen, reassigns the product from the industrial sector to the health sector to help mitigate the problem. In addition, some of the major suppliers ship products from other regions to add supply to high-demand areas. A state health official noted that while this was a short-term solution, there was concern that the move could lead to shortages in other regions, if they subsequently experience an increase in cases.
“We have had very difficult situations over the last two weeks, in which hospitals have seen their oxygen delivery interrupted with hours of delay, which has put them in a very low oxygen supply situation. There were several hospitals that they were below 48 hours of oxygen, ”said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. Mayhew added that the situation appeared to be stabilizing on Saturday as the state began to experience a reduction in hospitalizations, but much concern remained:
“Hospitals use 3-4 times the amount of oxygen they would normally use. This is a vital supply and hospitals continue to use oxygen 24 hours a day … Undoubtedly, this can cause problems for the supply reliability in Florida, although Covid hospitalizations are beginning to decline. “
Premier has contacted several federal agencies over the past week, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, on behalf of troubled hospitals in its network.
“It’s a very critical situation,” Craft said, adding that the oxygen suppliers he works with have said they need help.
A health official working with states and federal agencies on the issue told CNN that there needs to be a coordinated response.
“We understand that there are hurricanes, floods and forest fires all over the country, so it’s not like there are no distractions, but it’s serious and it needs a much better strategy and communication plan around it. said the health official.