Donor heart transported 95 km in 63 minutes for transplant

New Delhi: A donor heart was transported from Rohtak to Delhi through a 95-km inter-state green corridor in 63 minutes for an emergency transplant at a private hospital in Shalimar Bagh, according to a statement.

The heart was retrieved at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Haryana’s Rohtak, at 7.20 pm and the team carrying the organ left the facility at 7.40 pm, reaching Fortis Hospital in Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh, at 8.43 pm, the statement read.

The corridor was coordinated by the Haryana and Delhi police to facilitate the uninterrupted movement of the ambulance carrying the organ across the two states, according to the hospital.

The process began after the hospital was alerted through the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) network at 8.50 am about the availability of a heart for a B-positive recipient. According to the statement, doctors at the Fortis hospital confirmed a suitable recipient at 9.55 am, while formal allocation was confirmed by NOTTO at 12.03 pm.

The medical team left Delhi for Rohtak at 2.49 pm and reached PGIMS at 4.34 pm. Following the retrieval procedure, the organ was transported back to Delhi under the green corridor arrangement. “Executing an inter-state green corridor across a 95-km route requires extraordinary synchronisation between law enforcement authorities and medical teams,” said Naveen Sharma, vice president and facility director, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

The heart was subsequently taken to the hospital for the transplant procedure, officials said.

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The Hans India