HYDERABAD: In a first such initiative, an exclusive passenger train of Hyderabad Metro was used to transport a live organ (heart) for a transplant in just 30 minutes to avoid peak traffic.
The live organ, harvested from a 45-year-old brain dead man was transported to Jubilee Hills check-post Metro station from Nagole Metro station in a special train to cover 21km and 16 stations from Kamineni Hospital in LB Nagar to Apollo Hospitals in Jubilee Hills. A team of medical experts, led by Dr AGK Gokhale, travelled along with harvested heart in the special train.
“We were planning to do this transplant surgery on a 44-year-old patient who has been suffering from a heart condition. Considering the usual city traffic and the fact that both the hospitals are on opposite ends of the city, we consulted Metro rail authorities for transportation. Short of helicopters, we thought this is the best option for a fast, uninterrupted commute in such crucial times,” Dr Gokhale of Apollo Hospitals said.
While green channels are used for transporting lungs and heart, the attempt reduced the transit time. “When we started it was around 4.30pm which is the peak traffic hour and hence metro was a better option than the road. It more time is spent in transit, the chances of the heart functioning well in the recipient reduces drastically,” added Anoop Antony, transplant coordinator, Apollo Hospitals.
Dr G Swarnlatha, in-charge, Jeevandan programme, explained that for a heart transplant, the time period available for transit and transplantation is only four hours.
“This is the very first time that an organ had been transported through the metro rail anywhere in the country,” she said. NVS Reddy, managing director Hyderabad Metrol Rail Limited (HMRL) explained how Hyderabad Metro Rail created a special green corridor between Nagole and Jubilee Hills Check post stations to facilitate non-stop transport.
“It’s for the first time that such a special dedicated train was run to transport a heart to save a life,” he added. The state has seen 14 organ donations during the first month of this year and organ donations have picked up after seeing a dip during the first six months of the pandemic.