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| - Fact Check: Nebuliser is not a substitute for oxygen cylinder
A video has gone viral on social media wherein a young healthcare worker claims that a nebuliser machine can work as an alternative to oxygen cylinder. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that nebuliser cannot be an alternative for oxygen machines. Read on to know more.
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India Today Fact Check
Nebuliser is no alternative to an oxygen cylinder. Health experts have discredited the claim. The doctor seen in the viral video has also admitted that the information is completely false.
As India fights a crisis of liquid medical oxygen for Covid-infected patients, a video has gone viral on social media where a young healthcare worker claims that a nebuliser machine can work as an alternative to oxygen cylinder.
In the video, the man says he feels saddened that people are running around looking for oxygen cylinders, and what they could do instead is use a nebuliser. He then goes on to demonstrate how it works and fixes the mask to the nebuliser. He says it doesn’t even need a saline solution or medicine.
A Twitter user shared the video with a claim in Hindi which translates to, "He is Dr Alok from Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad. He has advised a great technique for improving the level of blood oxygen by using a nebuliser. In today’s scenario of oxygen crisis, this technique can save a lot of lives. Everybody should see this video at least once."
Alo ’ pic.twitter.com/flbEsqvY44
— Isha Bajaj (@Isha5384) April 23, 202
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that nebuliser cannot be an alternative for oxygen machines. Not only have doctors discarded the theory proposed in the video, but Dr Alok Sethi, who is seen in the clip, has himself admitted that the information given in the video is incorrect.
Unfortunately, many people are sharing the video on social media believing the technique to be genuine. The archived version can be seen here.
Doctors react
Doctors and health experts have totally discredited the claim made in the video. “Baseless. It should be discredited,” Dr Arvinder Singh Soin, surgeon and Group chairman at Medanta Hospital, said.
Dr Dhiren Gupta, co-director of Pediatric Critical Care Unit at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “This is completely a sham. He should give up his medical degree.”
“A nebuliser provides nebules of the medicine and pushes them a bit. It cannot fulfill the oxygen requirement. In fact, at times, you need to connect it to oxygen,” said Dr Aviral Vatsa of the National Health Service, Scotland.
What is a nebuliser?
It is a device that creates a fine mist from a liquid, usually using compressed air or oxygen or via ultrasonic vibration. A nebuliser is different from a vaporiser which uses heat to produce mist.
Nebulisers are often used to deliver life-saving drugs. Patients can inhale them via a mask put on their nose and mouth. Sometimes mist alone is sufficient to provide the treatment. A nebuliser is often used to loosen the mucus in the lungs.
Alok Sethi speaks to AFWA
Dr Alok Sethi, a medical practitioner from Faridabad, told India Today that the information in the video is completely false and since the time the clip went viral, he has been alerting people about it.
He said that he had sent the video to a person who’s completely stable, and through this video, he was just trying to explain the method of using a nebuliser. But when he tried to connect it with the ongoing oxygen crisis, it resulted in a misleading video. We have a recording of our conversation with Dr Sethi.
The doctor also sent us a video in which he clearly said that nebuliser is not an alternative to oxygen cylinder.
Dr Sethi told us that he had completed his MBBS from Sree Balaji Medical College in Chennai in 2012, and is presently associated as a junior doctor with Sarvodaya Hospital in Faridabad in the cardiac department.
Sarvodaya Hospital too has termed the method proposed in the video unscientific.
Reacting to the stir created by the clip, the hospital issued a statement saying, “The video has not been backed by any evidence or scientific study, does not reflect any medical advice, & is in no way endorsed by Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad. Please do not follow any such practice without consulting your medical practitioner. It could lead to worsening of the disease.”
Thus, it is clear that nebuliser is by no means a substitute for an oxygen cylinder and the information given in the viral video is false.
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