A video is being shared on social media claiming that an empty nebuliser could improve the blood oxygen levels in COVID-19 patients. This video shows Dr. Alok from Faridabad’s Sarvodaya Hospital, explaining the nebuliser technique to improve blood oxygen levels in the body. He claims nebuliser is a substitute for oxygen cylinders. Amid the ongoing oxygen shortage crisis in the Indian hospitals, Dr. Alok shared this nebuliser technique on social media. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: An empty nebuliser can be used as a substitute for oxygen cylinders.
Fact: Doctors and experts have warned people that there is no scientific evidence to prove Dr. Alok’s statement on using nebuliser machines as a substitute for oxygen cylinders. Sarvodaya Hospital management distanced itself from the video and denied endorsing this video and clarified that there is no scientific evidence to prove this technique. Dr. Alok posted another video clarifying that his video on how to use nebuliser is wrong and is sending a false message. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for the details of the video shared in the post, we found several news articles that wrote about Dr. Alok Sethi’s video explaining the nebuliser technique to improve blood oxygen levels in COVID-19 patients. They can be seen here and here. These articles reported that doctors and experts have warned people that there is no scientific evidence to prove Alok Sethi’s nebuliser technique to improve blood oxygen levels in the body. They termed Alok Sethi’s statement on using nebulisers as a substitute for oxygen cylinders as baseless.
Sarvodaya Hospital management tweeted a clarification on this video stating, “The video has not been backed by any evidence or scientific study, does not reflect any medical advice, & is no way endorsed by Sarvodaya Hospital, Faridabad”.
Dr. Alok Sethi posted another video clarifying that his video on how to use nebuliser has gone wrong and is sending the false message. He apologised for the video and said he did not intend to send the wrong message.
To sum it up, an empty nebuliser cannot be used as an alternative for oxygen cylinders.
