Mohali
19 February 2020
DIVYA AZAD
A nurse from Fortis Hospital Kangra proved to be an angel for a bus driver of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) when he suffered a heart attack and the nurse Kajal who was travelling in the same bus rescued him using her Basic Life Support (BLS) and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) techniques. The incident has not only brought forth the dire need for everyone to be trained in BLS and CPR.
The incident happened last week when HRTC driver suddenly stopped breathing in the moving bus which was going from Dharamshala towards Kangra, Tanda. The bus suddenly stopped on the road near Purana Matour and the driver driving the bus slumped sideways from the seat. All the passengers were surprised to see this and Fortis Staff nurse Kajal from was sitting on the seat behind the driver’s seat.
Kajal, with the help of other passengers, took the driver to an empty spot. When she checked the driver, he found that the pulse had slowed down, and he had stopped breathing. It did not take long for Kajal to understand that the matter was serious and it was important to intervene immediately.
Kajal showed presence of mind and without any delay, she started giving CPR. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.
She continued this process for about 15 minutes, during which she gave oxygen through mouth to the patient. After 15 minutes, hard work of Kajal brought results and the heartbeat of the bus driver was revived, following which the nurse advised him to be taken to the hospital immediately.
In this regard, Dr. Akhil Gautam and Dr. Amit Sharma, cardiologist at Fortis Kangra, said that in this situation, there is a golden period which is the initial period. He said that the manner in which the staff nurse Kajal has handled the initial and critical management of the case needs appreciation.
Commendable effort of bus driver
Colonel HS Bhagat, Facility Director of Fortis Kangra, said that it is a matter of pride for the hospital that the courageous efforts of staff nurse Kajal enabled the patient to get primary and necessary treatment immediately. Colonel Bhagat also praised the courage and understanding of the bus driver, adding that if the driver had not applied the brakes it could have resulted in a serious mishap.
