Thane doctor saves passenger’s life at Mumbai International Airport
Mumbai International Airport (inset: Dr. Gayatri Patankar, courtesy: mymedicalmantra.com)
A Thane-based doctor resuscitated, administered first-aid and helped save the life of a passenger at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Monday.
Anaesthesiologist Gayatri Patankar, who was returning from a family vacation in Dubai, had just cleared customs when she saw an obese man in his mid-50s slumped on a wheelchair with a crowd gathered around him, around 11.30 pm.
“The onlookers informed that he suddenly fell and lost consciousness, I checked and he was cyanosed, limp and pulseless,” Patankar told news agency IANS.
While the Mumbai International Airport’s medical emergency team was on their way, she wasted no time and placed him on the floor and gave him a cardiac massage. The patient, Neelmani Sharma, was returning from Thailand.
A medical team arrived with an emergency kit and they continued CPR on the patient, giving shocks with a defibrillator. After the third shock, the patient started breathing and the airport medical team also reached by then at the spot.
Sharma was then administered certain injections and medicines. After he showed gradual signs of improvement, he was shifted to the Seven Hills Hospital at Marol, early Monday.
Patankar said the hospital authorities informed her this evening that the patient was fine and recovering well.
“It was the most fulfilling experience of my life as all the passengers around watched me. Later people clapped and saluted, one little girl even touched my feet. This is my greatest reward,” Patankar said.
Sharma, meanwhile, has been diagnosed with renal artery stenosis and is expected to undergo bypass surgery in the coming days.
A Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) official said another person who suffered a cardiac arrest had been similarly resuscitated at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on January 19 by the airport medical team.
According to doctors, instances of deaths owing to Sudden Cardiac Arrests (SCA) have been on the rise in the city owing to the hectic lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits among other reasons.
With IANS inputs
