Dozens of traffic personnel and paramedics fought against time to transport a live human heart from a private hospital in the national capital to another hospital for its transplantation in a recipient.
The team of Delhi traffic officials completed the task along with a dedicated team of doctors early Saturday.
An ambulance with the donor heart and a team of doctors rushed at high speed and covered a distance of 20 km in a record 16 minutes to reach Max Super Speciality Hospital in south Delhi's Saket area from B.L. Kapur Hospital in west Delhi.
The live beating heart of a 57-year-old brain dead donor of Punjabi Bagh area started its journey around 3 a.m. from B.L. Kapur Hospital; it was shifted safely to the operation theater and by 6.30 a.m. the transplant surgery was completed.
"Max Super Speciality Hospital in Saket carried out its first heart transplant surgery last night. The surgery went off uneventfully and the patient is presently in the ICU and is recovering. The heart was made available through a generous donation by the family members of a brain dead individual at another city hospital," a Max hospital statement said.
It said that the Delhi police created a "green corridor" allowing the heart to be swiftly transported to Max Hospital in Saket and helped save a life.
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It took approximately about two hours for the doctors to harvest the live heart from the donor at B.L. Kapur Hospital and reach the operation table of Max Hospital.
The medical miracle that overcame barriers of distance promises to give a fresh lease of life to 45-year-old Mohd. Mirazuddin who belongs to Abul Fazal Enclave in Okhla Industrial Area in Delhi.
"The heart of the man was working between 15-20 percent. We kept him in the list of our top heart transplant patients. Meanwhile, we got a call from B.L. Kapur hospital about a brain dead man whose family was ready to donate his heart. We reached the hospital and harvested the heart of the man," Dr Rajneesh Malhotra, Chief-CTVS at Max Super Speciality Hospital, told IANS.
"After reaching Max, we started the heart plantation process within five minutes and it took us around four hours to complete the operation," Malhotra said.
Police said that it began with a phone call at around midnight on Friday from B.L. Kapur hospital to surgeons at Max Hospital.
"We were told around 12 a.m. that a live heart will be shifted to Max hospital after one hour. We cleared the route and created a "green corridor" and the ambulance carrying the human heart along with the team of doctors left the B.L. Kapur Hospital at around 3 a.m. and reached Max Hospital in 16 minutes covering a distance of 20 km.," Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic Operations), Sharad Agarwal told IANS.
"Delhi traffic police ensured that there was no obstruction, traffic jam on the route. We are happy to contribute in the noble cause of saving a life," Agarwal said.
The heart donor was a 57-year-old-man whose brain became dead after a road accident on July 29. After a brief treatment the man was declared brain dead, and his family members decided to donate his heart for saving the life of another person.
According to hospital doctors, the recipient was a patient of Dilated Cardiomyopathy, a heart condition where the heart muscles expand, become weak and are unable to pump blood.
(Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in)