We have some advice for anyone who has watched too many
of those Bollywood medical dramas, where suddenly the character collapses
after a heart attack. The paramedics arrive at the scene. The heart monitor
reveals a completely flat line – no heartbeat – but a heroic
effort saves the character’s life. It makes fine drama, says Dr.
R.N. Kalra, Medical Director & CEO R&D, Kalra Hospital. In real
life, the situation and outcome is almost always different.
At Kalra Hospital, we execute the Chain of Survival, a series of
steps to be followed in order to improve a person’s chances of
survival. Ideally, a bystander recognizes that someone has gone into cardiac
arrest, and calls emergency immediately.
If the person collapses, is not responding and has stopped
breathing, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) should be performed,
while emergency medical personnel are on their way. But here, Dr. Kalra
offers another reality check: CPR alone has only revived fewer than five
percent of victims. However, CPR can ensure an adequate supply of
oxygen, and prevent brain damage until the paramedics arrive.
After a cardiac arrest, Dr. Kalra says, a person’s heart is usually
quivering like "a bowl of jelly," a condition popularly known as
fibrillation, because normal electrical activity has been badly
disrupted. Paramedics can re-establish the heartbeat by an electric shock
with a portable defibrillator. "It stops the disorganized
electrical activity momentarily," says Dr. Kalra, "just long
enough to re-set the nodes, which are like the sparkplugs of the heart."
The final step in the Chain of Survival has some
resemblance to those Bollywood medical dramas. The victim is lifted into the
ambulance, and whisked to the nearest hospital where doctors and nurses work
heroically to stabilize the heart and, hopefully, save yet another precious
life.
Excerpts by Dr. R.N. Kalra
Medical Director & CEO, R&D
Kalra Hospital & SRCNC
By Dr. Ankur Kalra
CEO, e-Medicine & Promotions
Kalra Hospital & SRCNC
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