Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Sep 4: Doctors and police from Bangalore worked in tandem with their counterparts in Chennai to achieve a miracle of sorts in medical history on Wednesday September 3. A throbbing heart belonging to a brain-dead patient from a city-based hospital was transported to Chennai within 2.5 hours and transplanted to a patient there within a total time limit of six hours!
The police became proud partners of this achievement by ensuring that the vehicle carrying the heart in a special box was allowed signal-free travel from Kengeri in the outskirts of the town to the airport, making it possible for the ambulance to traverse a distance of 50 km within 45 minutes.
In Chennai too the police paved way for signal-free travel for the ambulance after the heart reached there by a special flight, as a result of which the vehicle reached the hospital located 13 km away within seven minutes from the airport. The heart was successfully transplanted to a patient in Chennai-based Fortis Malar Hospital by a team of expert heart surgeons. The transplant, which was handled by a team of doctors led by Dr K R Balakrishnan, completed the procedure in three hours that ended at 8 pm.
Full credit goes to the doctors of BGS Global Hospital in the city who made this adventurous operation possible. The 32-year-old lady, who was pronounced brain dead after meeting with an accident, also donated her kidneys to two persons and lever to another, thus saving several lives at a stretch.
BGS Global Hospital vice president, Dr N G Venklataramana, profusely thanked the effort of the police for making the shifting of the heart possible, as reaching Chennai within the stipulated time was crucial for the success of the transplant there.
The lady in question had suffered critical head injuries after falling from a two-wheeler on August 30 in a road accident at Hosur, Tamil Nadu, a short distance from the city. There was internal bleeding which got clotted in the brain. Although local doctors conducted surgery, she did not recover. Then she was taken to BGS Hospital in Kengeri, where efforts were made to make the brain functional again. But the brain stopped functioning, and at 4.50 pm on September 2, the doctors decided that the lady cannot be revived. After discussing with the doctors, family members of the woman decided to donate her organs, which otherwise would have gone waste.
Although the doctors found suitable patients for five organs of the lady within the city, no suitable patient was found for heart transplant. Therefore, they contacted doctors from Chennai, and were informed that a patient there needed a heart immediately. On Tuesday night, a decision to transport the heart was taken, and a team of doctors from Fortis Malar Hospital in Chennai came to Bangalore on Wednesday morning. For the transplant to be successful, the heart needs to be transplanted within six hours. After arrangements for smooth transportation were made in consultation with the police, the heart, placed in a special liquid inside a box, was transported in an ambulance, which was followed by a team of doctors and police in separate vehicles. The special aircraft became airborne soon and reached Chennai within 40 minutes.
Although Bangalore is one of the global centres known for heart transplantations, this is for the first time that a heart was removed, transported to another state, and transplanted within a matter of six hours flat.
Those who are willing to donate organs, and also patients suffering from failure of organs can contact 9845006768 (email: Zcckbangalore@gmail.com – website: www.zcck.in).