The Sikh Community has set up ‘oxygen langars’ outside gurudwaras in parts of the Delhi-NCR region. Sikh aid group Khalsa Help International has been buying small quantities of oxygen as and when it becomes available to help those in urgent need.
At a time when hospitals are swamped with critical COVID-19 positive patients, patients and their kin have been running from pillar to post for oxygen, beds, ventilators, and other necessary medications. It’s mainly thanks to the good samaritans out there who have been tirelessly working to fulfill people’s demands and save as many lives as possible.
#khalsaaidindia volunteers have been tirelessly working to in these unprecedented times. We have started distribution of Oxygen concentrators in Delhi region.
Due to severe shortage of oxygen, we have been inundated with requests and are trying to fulfill as many as possible pic.twitter.com/THP3UVcTbL
— Khalsa Aid India (@khalsaaid_india) April 24, 2021
The Sikh Community, known for its bravery and selfless nature has set up ‘oxygen langars’ outside gurudwaras in parts of the Delhi-NCR region. Sikh aid group Khalsa Help International has been buying small quantities of oxygen as and when it becomes available to help those in urgent need.
Cars and bikes lined up outside the gurudwaras for oxygen help while volunteers holding oxygen cylinders came out to their aid.
“I came here because I didn’t get help anywhere else,” said Manoj Kumar to NDTV, who sat next to his mother Devi in the car as a volunteer monitored the flow of oxygen from the tank to her masked mouth.
“I called the gurudwara and they asked me to reach here fast,” said Kumar.
People are dying on the streets. That’s why we started this,” said Rummy, founder of the Khalsa Help International.
In UP’s Ghaziabad, Indirapuram Gurdwara has seen long queues of people from Meerut, Loni, and West Delhi waiting to procure oxygen for their loved ones. Volunteers claimed that 300-400 people are been helped out every day, reported ThePrint
With the large-scale help it provides, Khalsa Aid International also faces a resource crunch. While every day hundreds of patients reach the gurdwara for aid, there are only a handful of oxygen cylinders and masks available. As a result, people can get oxygen assistance only for a limited amount of time.
The volunteers prioritize patients with the lowest SPO2 levels and give them assistance first but take the oxygen away once the levels are restored to 80. The cylinder is then given to the next critical patient.
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However, most of the patients who reach the gurdwara already have extremely low oxygen levels in the 40-60 range, and this makes the process more difficult.
This noble initiative is being run completely by gurdwara volunteers and without the help of doctors or healthcare workers. Volunteers are the ones constantly checking SPO2 levels and handing out oxygen cylinders. While some doctors volunteer their time for some time, constant supervision is absent. They also have a dedicated helpline (9097041313) where patients can reach out for aid.
Even when some patients blackout due to lack of oxygen, it is the volunteers who give CPR to revive them. But without proper medical knowledge, they are not always able to save the patients.
Aside from oxygen supply, the gurdwara also ensures everyone is well fed through langars and drinking water supply.
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