New Delhi, December 13 – A donated heart was transported in a record time of three hours and four minutes from Nagpur to Delhi via two ‘green corridors,’ giving a new lease of life to a 59-year-old woman. The heart covered a distance of over 1,067 kilometers through a combination of air and road transport.
The life-saving procedure was carried out at the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute on Okhla Road, New Delhi.
Timely Coordination Saves Lives
Dr. Ritwick Raj Bhuiya, Adult Cardiac Surgeon at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, emphasized the critical role of time in heart transplants. "The ideal window from harvesting the heart to transplantation is six hours. The organ must be transplanted within this timeframe to ensure its viability," he said.
The journey began at 12:53 a.m. from Kingsway Hospital in Nagpur, where the heart was harvested from a 43-year-old male donor who had succumbed to a brain stroke. The organ was transported via air ambulance, departing Nagpur at 1:12 a.m. and arriving at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 3:19 a.m.
Swift Execution with Green Corridors
From the airport, the Delhi Traffic Police established a second green corridor, ensuring the heart reached Fortis Escorts Heart Institute on Okhla Road, covering the 20-kilometer distance in just 27 minutes.
A Life-Saving Mission
The successful transplant highlights the importance of seamless coordination between hospitals, transport teams, and traffic authorities. It also underscores the significance of organ donation in saving lives, giving hope to countless patients awaiting transplants.
