KOCHI: A routine morning commute turned into a life-saving rescue on Thursday on MC Road near Kalady, when two healthcare workers — a staff nurse and a nursing student — jumped off buses to revive a man who suffered a cardiac arrest while travelling in his car amid heavy traffic.
Anjali Baiju, a staff nurse at Apollo Hospital, was returning home by bus after completing her night shift when the incident unfolded around 9 am.
The bus was caught in a traffic block when passengers asked if there was a nurse on board.
“I got down immediately. Another nursing student also came with me. We checked his breathing and pulse, but detected neither,” Anjali said. The man, who had previously undergone an angioplasty, was reportedly driving to LF Hospital for a review when he developed severe chest pain.
Anjali Baiju and the nursing student, Ardra Raj, immediately began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as bystanders called an ambulance.
Ardra Raj, a student of Mar Baselios College of Nursing, said she was travelling in her college bus to attend her graduation ceremony when she noticed people taking the unconscious man out of his car.
“I was on our college bus on the way to a function. Today was our graduation. We saw people pulling a man out of his car, and that’s when our bus stopped. I got down to help,” she said.
The two continued CPR until an ambulance arrived after about three cycles of compressions. The man was rushed to LF Hospital, where he regained consciousness.
“He had regained consciousness by then. I spoke to him for a while before returning home,” Anjali said.
