It was an extraordinary end to what had started as just another day. A nurse’s valiant efforts to revive a passenger who had collapsed at the East Fort bus station here when employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation went on a flash strike drew in much praise. She only wishes that the effort had borne fruit, and Surendran, 60, survived.
Renju, senior staff nurse at PRS Hospital, was optimistic that Surendran would recover since she had wasted no time in administering cardio pulmonary cerebral resuscitation (CPCR) to him. However, it was not to be. Now, Renju plans to visit Surendran’s home to meet his family.
How it unfolded
On Wednesday, the day of the strike, Renju was heading home after her shift at the hospital. Her husband Binu too had come to the hospital for physiotherapy and they were taking the bus back. However, the strike saw their direct bus getting cancelled and they reached the East Fort station around 2.30 p.m. Just as they arrived, they saw Surendran trying to get up from the floor onto a seat. As he was showing signs of uneasiness, people around thought his sugar level had dipped and tried to get him to drink juice. Even while drinking it, he collapsed.
Surendran had no pulse and immediately, Renju’s training in providing life support kicked in though she did not know his medical condition. She laid him on the floor and started administering CPCR. She administered CPCR for around 15 minutes, when an ambulance took Surendran away.
Only after Renju and her husband reached home did they get to know that Surendran did not make it. Renju says her training in basic and advanced cardiac life support as part of her work helped her in the situation.
Earlier experience
She has had a similar experience in the past. Not long after completing her nursing course from PRS, she was at the Attukal temple when she came across a crowd surrounding a man who had collapsed. Then too, she had administered CPR.
Since Wednesday, Renju has been flooded with calls from a lot of people, including the PRS Hospital management.
