A 10-day-old old female baby, suffering from congenital heart disease, was ferried in an ambulance from Shivamogga to Bengaluru on Monday via zero traffic within three hours for treatment.
Sudha, a resident of Belimallur village in Honnali taluk had given birth to the baby at McGann Hospital, attached to Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences on January 31. The baby was suffering from congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension.
Raghunandan R., District Surgeon, told The Hindu that, to save the baby, it was decided that she would be shifted to Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research in Bengaluru for surgical intervention and other treatment. The Department of Police was apprised on the condition of the infant. The police immediately responded and arranged zero traffic for hassle-free movement of the advanced life support ambulance vehicle that carried the baby from Shivamogga to Bengaluru. The vehicle started from here at 8.30 a.m. and reached Bengaluru by 11.30 a.m. covering a distance of 302 km within three hours, he said.
C.N. Manjunath, director, Jayadeva Institute, said the premature baby weighing 1,500 g had three holes in the heart. “But as the infant did not require any cardiac intervention right now, she has been shifted to Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health for neonatal care,” he said.
Baby shifted from Mangaluru undergoes surgery
A 40-day-old baby Saiful Ajman who was recently shifted from Father Muller Medical College Hospital in Mangaluru to Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences in a record 4.5 hours through zero traffic via ambulance has undergone surgery and is doing well.
A team of doctors, led by paediatric cardiologist Jayanth Kumar successfully performed the surgery on Saturday, said C. N. Manjunath, institute director.
The baby had been diagnosed with Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection (TAPVC), a congenital heart defect. “The baby will be monitored in the ICU for a week,” he added.