Guaranteeing the availability of medical gases
Why is it increasingly important?
Published on March 26, 2024
3 minutes
Medical gases play a critical role in protecting patients’ lives. It is essential to ensure that the supply chains, from production to the delivery to patients, are robust and resilient, especially in times of crisis.
Indeed, climate change could affect supply chains and healthcare infrastructures. That is why we work with hospitals in order to provide them with medical gases they need, no matter what, when, or how, by strengthening supply chains.
Global warming could disrupt the medical gases supply
The shock of the Covid pandemic has put medical gases supply under a huge pressure. On a broader scale, global warming is leading to an increase in the number and impact of extreme weather events, such as forest fires, floods, storms and hurricanes, which may impair the supply and the healthcare facilities. In that context, anticipation of crisis and emergency preparedness are considered more carefully than in the past.
Emergency preparedness is becoming more and more essential for healthcare providers and suppliers. It means being prepared to respond to different types of unexpected events involving massive patient flows, supply chain disruptions and staff shortages, as well as being prepared for crisis situations and securing critical supplies that are essential to operate and provide care, whatever happens. Medical gases and especially medical oxygen, are among these critical supplies that must be part of the emergency preparedness plans of hospitals and care facilities.
Air Liquide Healthcare’s answer: helping hospitals to be more resilient
After listening to more than 100 people in 10 countries where we operate, we have found that the facts match the needs of hospital management and healthcare professionals working in emergency, surgical, intensive, and respiratory care. For them, security of medical gases supply is an important point of attention. There is a need for significantly greater supply chain security if shortages are to occur.
Our common goal is to be better prepared for emergency situations by getting to hospitals priority access to additional resources when needed, by being sure they have the medical gases they need in times of crisis.
Air Liquide Healthcare and its hospital partners aim to be more resilient by anticipating and designing tailor-made solutions. In case of flooding for instance, it is about;
- working to enhance hospitals’ autonomy in terms of crucial medical gases combining the reservation of equipment and the upgrading of medical gases installations,
- anticipating the number of cylinders needed in the event of patient evacuation,
- developing new devices to allow a reduction in the amount of medical gases used,
- exploring new ways of supplying…
By analyzing the most likely risks for a given hospital, Air Liquide Healthcare adopts a pragmatic approach to improve its resilience in terms of medical gases supply.
The Air Liquide Healthcare motto for medical gases
Wanting that healthcare professionals have complete confidence in medical gases supply, we ambition to deliver best-in-class reliability. So that, medical gases are consistently and adequately supplied where and when hospitals need them for saving lives.