Nearly 20 doctors and 30 para-medical staff were involved in the rescue operation at Bellary.
The seven-hour attempt to save Mohammed Aziz (40), the construction worker trapped in the debris of the collapsed building in Bellary on the night of Republic Day, saw many of the doctors risking their own lives, as they worked with crude instruments at the site of the crash.
The heroic attempt could not save Aziz, who later succumbed to his injuries. Nearly 20 doctors and 30 para-medical staff were involved in the operation.
“We have never before experienced anything like this. Aziz was found in a frog-like posture. Two beams had fallen on his right arm and legs,” said Dr Devanand, director, Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS).
Dr Devanand said that Aziz was first traced through a small opening between two slabs, and it took the rescue team an hour to figure out how to get to him. The option of cutting the slabs posed technical difficulties, and there was no illumination, no way to use medical instruments in that space.
The only option left was to amputate Aziz’s limbs.
Dr Prabhanajan Kumar, head of the department of Orthopaedics, VIMS, said that a delicate operation had to be performed, though there was risk of rubble falling. Any mistake in operating the right shoulder, and the chest might have got damaged.
“It took us more than three hours just to cut the limbs,” said Dr Kumar. “We were using kitchen and carpentry equipment.”
“There was no ventilation. Doctors had to come out to breathe. We took turns,” Dr Kumar said. “While one person went to give anaesthesia, another went after him to operate. We crawled in to reach Aziz. Dr Basa Reddy, the surgeon, just stayed there for over three hours during the amputation, and we feared that he might not be able to breathe,” Kumar said.
A hammer fell on Dr Shiva Naik, an orthopedic surgeon, who suffered a hairline fracture.
“After about three hours, alarmed by the length of the procedure, the disaster management team said that it would be wise to call off the operation if it was not possible to rescue Aziz. We told them we would take about ten minutes longer. About 15 minutes later, we managed to get Aziz out,” said Dr Devanand.
Aziz died not of blood loss but hypertension, doctors said.
“Once word of the operation spread, doctors at private hospitals and medical shop owners rushed to help in whatever way possible; Aziz died, but his struggle brought us all together,” said Dr Devanand.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}