Minister assists medical emergency on flight, wins accolades

IndiGo Airlines has issued a heartfelt message of thanks to Karnataka State Minister for Finance Bhagwat Karad who assisted in reviving a patient who had fainted due to a suspected drop in blood pressure during a flight travelling from Mumbai to Delhi. Karad is a former pediatric surgeon who studied in KEM hospital of Mumbai and later entered politics.

"Our heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation towards MoS for ministering to his duties non-stop! Dr. Bhagwat Karad your voluntary support for helping out a fellow passenger is ever so inspiring," the airline company tweeted from its official account.

"I boarded the 1.05 am flight from Delhi to Mumbai on Tuesday and was seated on 1F seat. Around 2 am, the air hostess announced on the public address system asking for a doctor on board. I asked her about the problem and she said that a person needed immediate help," Dr.Karad said while speaking to the Indian Express.

"I went to where this 45-year-old man was lying. I could not feel his pulse and sensed that he suffered from vasovagal syncome. He was between two rows of seats. I removed his shirt and massaged his chest and kept his feet on a pillow so that blood could flow to his heart. Soon he regained consciousness and then we gave him glucose water. He did not have hypertension or sugar issues, and spoke to us after he regained consciousness," Karad recalled.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hailed his act on social media and congratulated his "colleague" for always being a "doctor at heart".