Amid the heatwave gripping the city, a woman voter in her 50s collapsed while waiting in a lengthy queue to cast her ballot at Jambu Savari Dinne in southern Bengaluru on Friday.
A doctor who happened to be in the queue promptly administered CPR and revived her.
Dr Ganesh Srinivasa Prasad, a nephrologist and transplant physician at a private hospital in the city, was waiting to cast his vote in the Bengaluru Rural parliamentary constituency when the woman collapsed in front of him around 9 am.
The doctor posted on X at 9.21 am: “As I was waiting in queue....one lady had syncope and cardiac arrest in front of me.”
Syncope is temporary loss of consciousness due to drop in blood pressure. Vasovagal is the most common type of syncope that could be triggered due to prolonged exposure to heat, long period of standing, and stress. Return Of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) is when a sustained heart rhythm resumes after a cardiac arrest.
Speaking to DH, Dr Prasad said the woman was taken to hospital in an ambulance a few minutes after she regained consciousness. "She was lying down on one side of the open veranda-like platform. Some people checked on her and gave her water. She drank two to three sips of water before she lost consciousness and fell,” he said.
The doctor said her eyes had rolled upwards and she was gasping for breath. She reportedly had no pulse and her limbs had gone cold. He performed CPR on her after securing her position, following which, she regained consciousness after about a minute. “She was also diabetic. It is likely that her condition worsened due to the heat,” he added.
The woman, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, could not vote. But her husband, who is speech impaired, was allowed to vote by the authorities at the polling station.
Published 26 April 2024, 23:32 IST