Railways claims ticket official saved man’s life by performing CPR on train, doctors disagree
A video shared by the Railway ministry showing a TTE performing CPR on a 70-year-old passenger has drawn criticism from doctors.
After the Railway ministry shared a video of a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) performing CPR on a 70-year-old passenger who allegedly suffered a heart attack, the viral clip failed to impress doctors on social media who slammed the official for his actions.
In the video, the Railways hailed the TTE as a "lifesaver" as he performed chest compressions on an elderly man while he lay on a lower berth in the train. The 70-year-old, who is fully awake but appears distressed, is asked by the man recording the video when he started feeling unwell while the TTE performs CPR on him.
As the man responds, the TTE continues thumping his chest and even performs mouth-to-mouth breathing on him. "While travelling in the general coach of train number 15708 'Amrapali Express', a 70-year-old passenger suffered a heart attack. The TTE deployed there immediately gave CPR and saved the life of the passenger. The passenger was then sent to the hospital at Chhapra railway station," the post on X read.
Take a look at the video here:
While many would have expected praise for the Railways official, doctors on social media hit out at the TTE for his actions and called out the Railways for spreading misinformation.
What made the doctors angry?
Doctors explained that performing CPR on someone who is "awake" is a violation of medical protocols and can end up harming the patient. They labelled the video as misleading and requested the Railways to delete it so that users do not learn incorrect information about the life-saving procedure.
"Performing CPR on a patient who is conscious is very dangerous and wrong. This is no joke. CPR is a life-saving procedure. Please delete this video so that people don't lose lives over misinformation," doctors wrote.
Another doctor, Dr Nawazish Khan, said "CPR is not performed on conscious patients. The procedure is reserved exclusively for those who are unresponsive & not breathing or have an ineffective pulse. Performing CPR on a conscious patient violates medical protocols & can result in legal liability for the responder."
(Also read: Gujarat man revives lifeless snake using CPR. Watch)
Cardiologist Dr Shariq Shamim said, "He is awake, you DO NOT do CPR on awake person. You don't do CPR just for heart attack. Govt officials should not post such misleading articles."
One activist claimed he has filed an RTI request with the ministry to enquire about the TTE's medical training and details of the investigation of the incident by the Railways."I have filed a RTI request for information about this so-called CPR. Hope the Ministry of Railway will respond properly," he said.
