BENGALURU: For the very first time in Bengaluru, the traffic police facilitated movement of two hearts for simultaneous transplants from two different locations by road to save the lives of two patients aged 10 and 41.
The two heart transplants were performed simultaneously in two separate operation theatres at Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bommasandra, while the hearts were procured from two brain-dead donors in BGS Global Hospital in Kengeri and Columbia Asia Hospital in Yeshwantpur. The recipients were a 10-year-old girl and a 41-year-old woman.
Both ambulances were clubbed together from NICE Road to provide clearance without resorting to two separate individual green corridors to reach Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bommasandra. ‘WhatsApp Live location’ of the doctor’s phone in the ambulance was used to share information with field traffic police staff to give clearance for the two ambulances.
Kasim Raja, ACP Traffic and Planning, told The New Indian Express, “While one ambulance took 26 minutes to reach, another took 29 minutes. The corridor was created from 8.30 am to 9.15 am. Both the vehicles travelled together for 18-19 minutes. While they came from Kengeri and Yeshwantpur, they came together on NICE Road.”At the end of the day, TNIE checked on the condition of both the patients. Doctors at Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences said both the surgeries were completed successfully and the patients were on the way to recovery — a fact that made Tuesday’s achievement even sweeter.
Tuesday’s achievement of ensuring smooth and quick movement of two hearts from two different locations in the city within half-an-hour traversing a distance of about 30 km was a joint effort of the traffic police, the doctors involved in the delicate hearts transplant surgeries and the ambulance drivers.
Kasim Raja, ACP, Traffic and Planning, told The New Indian Express: "While creating a green corridor in the past, we have only relied on walkie-talkie of the field staff; but today, we had doctors from both the convoys on a WhatsApp group and they kept updating their live location. Everyone concerned with the surgeries were on this group. We tracked them at every junction, and they crossed around 30 junctions."
Among the donors, one was a 10-year-old boy who hailed from Magadi. He was admitted to Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences following an accident at Nagamangala on March 9. He was later shifted to BGS Global Hospital, Kengeri. However, he was declared ‘brain dead’ on Monday and the family consented to donate their little son’s organs.
The boy’s heart was retrieved by a team of doctors from Narayana Health City and was transported from BGS Global Hospital, Kengeri, to Narayana Health City in a green corridor. The distance of 30 km was covered in 26 minutes.
The recipient, a 10-year-old girl, was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy. Dr. Shreesha Maiya, paediatric interventional cardiologist, Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Narayana Health City, said, “This girl is one of our youngest heart transplant recipients. She had extremely poor heart function due to which she was unable to perform daily activities. Her heart was not responding to any medication we tried and hence she underwent a transplant.”
The second donor, a 41-year-old nurse, had met with an accident while she was on her way to a temple. Following the accident, she was admitted to a local hospital, and later to Sapthagiri Hospital and then referred to Columbia Asia Hospital. However, she was declared brain dead on Monday. With the help of the traffic police, a green corridor was created. A distance of 23.5 km was covered in 29 minutes.
The recipient is a 41-year-old female suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy. Bangalore Traffic Police led by Kasim Raja and R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, helped in organising the simultaneous green corridors and shifting the two hearts for transplant in less than 30 minutes.
HEART OF THE MATTER
➊One heart came from BGS Global Hospital in Kengeri; the other from Columbia
Asia Hospital in Yeshwantpur ➋ The recipients - 10-year-old girl and 41-year-old woman - were in Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Bommasandra➌ One ambulance took 26 minutes and the other 29 minutes to reach Narayana Institute of Cardiac Sciences