Lucknow: What looked like another roadside accident on the winding Kumaon hill route turned into a life-saving intervention on Wednesday when Major General Vinod Kumar Patra, among the Army’s senior medical officers, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on an unconscious motorcyclist near Sukhi Dhang between Banbasa and Champawat.The incident occurred around 11 am as Major General Patra, who heads medical services at Headquarters Uttar Bharat Area, was travelling from Bareilly to Pithoragarh via Banbasa on official duty. He spotted a crowd gathered around a young man lying motionless beside the road. Many bystanders had already assumed the rider was dead.“I examined him and found there was no pulse and no breathing. Looking at the circumstances, I felt the accident had occurred only recently. His eye pupil had not dilated, therefore I decided to give him CPR immediately,” Major General Patra said.He immediately began chest compressions on the roadside while his buddy (assistant), Sepoy Baijnath Mardi, administered mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths. The resuscitation effort continued uninterrupted for about a minute and a half.According to the officer, the victim’s heart activity returned and he began breathing on his own. The man then vomited, which doctors consider a possible indicator of regaining consciousness after resuscitation. Though he had suffered a head injury and remained semi-conscious, his vital signs had stabilised.Efforts to call the 108 emergency ambulance service failed due to poor mobile network in the area. Major General Patra then coordinated directly with the Army medical establishment at the Banbasa military camp. An Army ambulance, accompanied by a medical officer, was dispatched to the location. Local police also reached the spot and assisted in shifting the injured man.“The victim was stabilised and shifted by the Army ambulance to the nearest primary health centre before being referred to a higher civil hospital for specialised treatment,” said Major General Patra, a distinguished ophthalmologist with 34 years of military service.“In such accidents, you never know how much time has passed before you reach the scene. But we had to try,” he added.Medical experts say prompt CPR can significantly increase survival chances in cases of sudden cardiac arrest following trauma, underscoring the importance of immediate first response in remote stretches where emergency services may be delayed.
