Accident made these doctors Good Samaritans

It seldom happens that a Good Samaritan who tries to save the life of an accident victim is a doctor. Even if it happens the survival of the accident victim depends on many other factors like the arrival of the ambulance in time, the life-saving equipment and the temperament of the mob. In the case of two young women doctors-- Dr Savitri Devi and Dr Faizah Anjum-- whose presence of mind saved a life on the narrow and busy Hyderabad-Vikarabad road everything just fell in place.

The young and bright doctors from Apollo Hospitals in Secunderabad, who were on a weekend trekking trip to Anantagiri, were returning in a mini bus that evening. Around 7 pm while some got down for snacks near a roadside eatery on the outskirts of Bandlaguda, the two doctors remained seated in the bus. As the police were making the bus driver take the bus off the road the doctors realised that there was an accident and everyone was rushing to the spot to see what was happening.

Out of curiosity the two doctors rushed to the spot to witness a huge crowd around the accident victim. They saw a 30-year-old man, probably inebriated, lying in a pool of blood with head injury near the median of the busy road.

They were told by the Narsingi police that the victim was hit by a state road transport bus while he was crossing the road. Wading through the mob, many of them drunk, the doctors got down to save the life of the victim.

The doctors armed with just a pen and a newspaper started treatment without shifting the victim. The quick-thinking doctors placed the pen  in the mouth to clear the victim’s tongue from blocking the air passage. While Savitri used the newspaper to blow air into his lungs, Faizah kept working on his chest for the Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. After about 20 minutes, the patient came to his senses and started breathing and of course even started writhing in pain.

Meanwhile an ambulance which was on its way to attend a call at some other place was stopped and the doctors ensured that the victim was shifted carefully without hurting his neck. In the ambulance the doctors gave him an IV drip, stabilised him before sending him off to the tertiary care centre of Osmania General Hospital.

The incident might have gone unnoticed but for a post in social media by some of their colleagues. Their Good Samaritan does have wide coverage getting instant fame for both the doctors who rushed to save a life without considering their personal safety. The doctors were even invited by the Rajbhavan for a felicitation in New Delhi. However, for the young doctors it’s just another day saving yet another life.

Recalling that weekend the two felt that the crowd was very helpful and rushed to get a newspaper to save the victim and gave space allowing fresh air for the victim. “We might not have been able to help if we had taken initiative and the mob there did not cooperate. They could have harmed us if the victim had died when we were trying our best,” Savitri Devi says.   

Faizah adds that sometimes the doctors do not feel safe even in the hospitals. “There are many instances where house surgeons and postgraduates are assaulted by relatives of patients in spite of doing everything. It happens if anything goes wrong with the patient. We have seen many such cases. Just imagine  a scenario where we were not in the ideal condition of a hospital and we are outside, not even on duty and amid the mob you do not know,” Dr Faizah stresses.

The duo also expressed concern over the essential life-saving equipment available with the emergency services. “The ambulance that day at least had oxygen; in the USA the technician knows everything. Here the ambulances are not up to the mark. The technician can’t even incubate the patient. But little bit more upgradation will be useful for the patient. What they can do at the most is to connect the oxygen mask. But that alone will not help the patient who is in critical condition like we saw that day on the road,” they said. But they continue to help people who meet with any accident on their way home. “It is not that every day we see an accident, but we are ready to save a life all the time,” the doctors said.

Dr Savitri is born and brought up in Hyderabad. She did her MBBS from Kakatiya University Medical College in Warangal and is preparing for her entrance exam to become a paediatrician. She says that her parents encouraged her and her brother to be brave, and be helpful no matter what. Faizah, who is from Karimnagar, is born into a teachers’ family. Aspiring to become a surgeon she also feels that awareness is the key in situations like the one they faced on Vikarabad road.

They suggest that schoolchildren could be taught principles of Basic Life support (BLS) to create awareness at a tender age. “Not the crude part of BLS that is being taught to medicos but the basic things. Like moving the patient without hurting the neck too much, as it can do more harm. We love to go to schools and teach children if the government wants us to,” Dr Faizah said.