Kerala Doctors Perform Roadside Surgery to Save Accident Victim's Life
Using mobile phone flashlights for illumination, they carried out the life-saving procedure on the spot, with help from local residents and police who turned the road into an impromptu operating theatre
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an incredible act of skill, presence of mind and compassion, doctors in Kerala performed an emergency surgery right on the roadside to save a critically injured accident victim when there was no time to get to a hospital.
With no operating room, no proper equipment, and only minutes to act, they made the bold decision to proceed immediately. Using mobile phone flashlights for illumination, they carried out the life-saving procedure on the spot, with help from local residents and police who turned the road into an impromptu operating theatre.
The doctors used a shaving blade and a juice straw to create an airway for a man who was suffocating.
The critically injured person, Linu, a native of Kollam, was riding his scooter when it collided with a motorcycle carrying Vipin and Manu at Valiyakulam around 8:30 p.m on Monday.
All three were thrown onto the road from the impact. The crowd that gathered around the injured had no idea what to do. At that moment, Dr. Manoop B, an assistant professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Government Medical College, Kottayam, happened to arrive. He was returning to Kottayam after taking part in a 35 km bicycle speed race organized as part of the Cochin Carnival in Fort Kochi.
Seeing the crowd, Manoop sensed trouble. On checking the injured, he noticed Vipin had slight movement, Manu was conscious, but Linu lay still. Severely injured with multiple facial bone fractures and a spinal injury, Linu was gasping for air, his airway completely blocked.
Dr. Manoop realized the gravity of the situation. If the airway wasn’t cleared immediately, it could lead to brain injury or even death due to lack of oxygen supply. Fortunately, two more doctors arrived at the accident site—Dr. Thomas Peter and Dr. Dhidiya Thomas, a couple returning home after their shift at the casualty department of Indira Gandhi Cooperative Hospital, Kadavanthara. The three doctors quickly joined forces to save Linu’s life. In no time, a shaving blade was fetched from a nearby shop, and a paper straw was taken from a soft drink packet.
The police, who had arrived at the scene by then, gave the green signal to proceed with the procedure. People gathered there lit up the area with their mobile flashlights as Dr. Manoop began the procedure. He cut through the skin, inserted a paper straw into the windpipe, and started blowing air through it.
Air reached Linu's lungs, and he was quickly moved into an ambulance and rushed to a nearby hospital. Along the way, he suffered a cardiac arrest but was revived with CPR. While Linu remains in critical condition, the timely intervention by the doctors prevented a fatal situation on the roadside.
