At a time, when traffic in South Delhi crawls at a snail's pace and most dread to get stuck on their way back home from work, the clockwork precision of Delhi Police helped transport a beating heart between Fortis Vasant Kunj and Fortis Escorts to save a life.
The Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant (FORT) unit of Fortis Healthcare Limited successfully transported a donor's heart via Outer Ring Road at 8:43 pm from Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital at Vasant Kunj in South Delhi reaching Fortis Escorts Heart Insitute, Okhla via Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, IIT Flyover, Malviya Nagar, Nehru Place and Modi Mill by 9:04 pm.
A distance of 14 kilometers was covered in a matter of 18 minutes and five seconds due to the green corridor created.
The donor, a 25-year-old male, a road accident victim was brought into the emergency of Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj at 3.58 am on July 24, with multiple fractures and multiple organ failure, post which he was declared brain dead.
The first declaration was made at 10.30 am on July 25 and the second at 6.13 pm the same day.
The proposal to donate his organs was discussed with the family members who gave their consent, despite their irreparable loss.
The hospital informed NOTTO (National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization) and police clearance was taken, this being a medico-legal case.
The donor is survived by his mother, father (who is himself a cancer patient) and elder brother.
A life-saving heart transplant was carried out on a 24-year-old patient suffering from congestive heart failure by Dr Z S Meharwal, Director of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplant Surgery, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute.
The surgery went on for four hours and the patient is recovering well with a normal ejection fraction of achieved since the transplant.
"The young patient suffered from a Myocarditis due to congestive heart failure. In this case, his heart muscles did not relax after each pumping and hence there was excessive water retention in the body. Over the years, the patient's condition grew serious and he was in dire need of a heart transplant," explained Dr Vishal Rastogi, principal intervention Cardiologist, Head, advanced Heart Failure Program, FEHI.
"Such exemplary acts of cadaveric donation are a reminder to all that how numerous patients awaiting organs who are close to death can be 'Given back a life '. It was heartwarming to see the overwhelming response from the Delhi Police to transport the heart in less than 20 minutes. There was a vehicle which had broken down on the route resulting in a pile up.
The Delhi Police played a vital role in making the green corridor a success. They not only save lives on the road but also by being an integral part in such times of need by enabling transportation of vital organs. They have truly become an fundamental part of our teams," said Dr Ashok Seth, Chairman, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute and Head, Cardiology Council, Fortis Healthcare.
Dr Rajeev Sood, Director, Urology, Robotics & Kidney Transplantation performed a kidney transplant on a 59-year-old male at Fortis Vasant Kunj.
"The patient had End Stage Renal Disease and was on dialysis for the past three years. It is his fortune to have received a young 25-year-old's kidney which has been in excellent condition. The transplanted kidney has provided him with a new lease of life and is generating urine since the time of transplant. The patient is doing well and recovering well in the post-op ICU," shared Dr Sood.
According to the NOTTO protocol and guidelines, each hospital has to inform about their possible organ donation after which the government body decides as to which organ is to be sent to which hospital in the region based on a list of recipients.
According to the hospital-wise data decided by NOTTO, the heart was allocated to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, one kidney to Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, one kidney to BLK Hospital and the liver was given to Gangaram Hospital.
"The organ donation rate in the country has increased over 10-fold over the last 5 years from 0.05 per million population to 0.8 per million in 2016. People from all walks of life are increasingly saying 'yes' to organ donation and we are truly humbled by their noble gesture every time. With NOTTO fully functional and the regional and state machineries getting into the act, an organ donation rate of over 1 per million by 2020 now looks a distinct possibility," noted Dr Avnish Seth, Director, Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant (FORT).
The entire process of organ donation and transplant surgeries is meticulous, requiring counselling for the grieving donor family, quick and efficient coordination by the medical and administrative teams to speed up necessary formalities and transport the donated organ quickly to the recipient.
Police clearance is a priority required to proceed with organ donation in medico-legal cases. Traffic Police support is equally critical to create a "green corridor" for rapid transit of the organs for transplant between hospitals.
Mr Sandeep Guduru, Facility Director, Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital said, "This is our third deceased organ donation at Vasant Kunj. We express our gratitude towards the donor's family as they have acted in such a noble manner even in their hour of grief. It was also the clockwork precision of all internal and external medical teams, police and NOTTO which made this dream of a donation a reality.
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