Nurses’ quick action saves life of man who suffered heart-attack on train

A quick response from four trainee nurses of Delhi’s Fortis Escorts Heart Institute saved the life of an elderly man who suffered a heart-attack aboard a train, a statement from the hospital said on Wednesday.
The incident happened while the four nurses – Suman, Shreya Das, Uma Manna and Sibsankar Giri – were returning to Delhi on the Rajdhani Express train after completing their training in Kolkata.
At around 12:30 am on Wednesday, they woke up to an alarming sound and discovered that an elderly passenger, close to 70 years of age, had collapsed from his seat.
The team of nurses rushed to help the elderly man and attended to him. Recalling their training during the Virohan Session at Fortis Escorts, where they had learnt Basic Life Support (BLS) skills, the nurses went ahead and provided the ailing man with necessary medical support.
Nurse Uma called out to the man to check for a response, but he was unresponsive. She tried to check his pulse, but his carotid pulse (a rhythmic beat that can be felt on either side of the neck, just below the jaw angle) could not be detected.
Without delay, nurses Uma and Sibsankar, with the assistance of their two other colleagues, moved the man to the floor and initiated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
During this critical period, one of the nurses pulled the emergency chain of the train, causing the train to halt at Kanpur Junction. Their timely intervention proved successful as the man’s pulse was restored, and he began to respond.
At the station, a medical team provided emergency care and transported the man to the nearest hospital.
“When we noticed one of our fellow passengers collapse, we immediately extended our help. We used our skills of BLS training which we learnt from Fortis Escorts, Okhla during our training, to restore the man’s life who had lost consciousness for a brief period of time. We express our gratitude to the hospital for training us with basic life support skills which can save people’s lives”, nurse Usha Manna said.
After their prompt action and successful bid to restore the man’s pulse, the fellow-passengers commended their act.