India would ideally require at least two lakh ICU ventilators, to cope with the current COVID wave, if it had enough doctors, respiratory technicians and paramedical staff trained to efficiently operate these technologically sophisticated machines, said Vishwaprasad Alva, MD of Skanray Technologies, a manufacturer of medical equipment including ICU ventilators.
“Prior to the pandemic, the country had 11,000 ICU ventilators and some 15,000 doctors/ICU staff who can handle these machines effectively,” said Mr. Alva. “During the first wave, over 40,000 additional ICU ventilators were introduced to the healthcare industry, of which some 10,000 units are still lying idle somewhere due to shortage of qualified medicos,” he added.
“Last year, the country may have added 10,000 semi-trained doctors and medical staff who can operate ICU ventilators. It is extremely critical to have skilled professionals who can handle these high-tech machines to derive better outcomes from ICU ventilators,’’ he added.
Last year, officials from Niti Aayog contacted Skanray with a requirement for 1 lakh ICU ventilators.
“This was a huge order for us when our annual production capacity was 5,000 units,” said Mr. Alva, adding the company partnered with BEL for scaling up production. The alliance developed and supplied 30,000 ventilators worth ₹1,600 crore.
