Kin find KIA response wanting after man has heart attack
Airport authorities say they reacted fast and that’s what saved the senior citizen’s life
At theKempegowda International Airport , we are told, there is one doctor, one paramedic, one pharmacist and three emergency medical technicians available 24x7. Yet, in the early morning hours of October 5, 62-year-old businessman Suresh Wadhwa had no one to turn to — for a long time — when he suffered a heart attack just outside the terminal.
It panned out thus:
3.55 am:
4.25 am:
As he was nearing airport, Wadhwa began feeling uneasy. He disembarked from the taxi sweating profusely, feeling nauseous. “I’m having a heart attack,” he thought. Yet, he managed to walk the short distance from the ‘drop off’ point toCafé Coffee Day outside the terminal and sat down — his shirt was soaked in sweat. “I felt very weak,” he recalls. He told a Sardarji, sitting nearby: 'I am getting a heart attack, could you please call the security'. Wadhwa then dialled his son’s number and said: “I am having a heart attack…at airport Coffee Day. Come fast.” By now, Wadhwa was visibly sick — sodden in sweat, bile flooding his throat and pain in his upper torso — he was just a few feet away from the terminal entrance, in full view of the public and airport authorities.
4.30 am:
Wadhwa’s son, daughter and wife make a mad dash to the airport, 35 kms away. While Manish drove, his sister called Just Dial for KIA’s help desk. “The Help Desk called us back and we said that our father was having a heart attack and he was at Café Coffee Day,” Manish says. His sister, who had earlier worked in an airline, tried calling old friends at the airport but in vain due to the early hour. They called for an ambulance.
4.35 am:
At the airport, Wadhwa was still in pain — alone and with no help in sight. “I kept telling all and sundry: ‘Help me, I am having a heart attack. I am sinking'. But nobody helped. I remember clearly, people just stared.”
4.50 am:
By now, it was 25 minutes since Wadhwa first asked for help and Manish called the Help Desk at KIA. “Then I heard somebody — who seemed like medical staff — ask: Who is ill? I raised my hand with great difficulty and identified myself,” Wadhwa recalls. “I know they came after 20 minutes, because even in that hazy state I was counting every second and thinking of my family.”
A spokesperson for KIA who acknowledged the October 5 incident told Bangalore Mirror: “KIA authorities were informed of an emergency by CISF security at 4:45 am on the said date. The patient was at Café Coffee Day, outside the terminal. Paramedics arrived at the spot to attend to the passenger at 4:51 am. Passenger was given first aid and five minutes later taken to the clinic situated on the first floor at the Terminal in a wheelchair.” However, Wadhwa denies that any first aid was given to him at the ‘site’. “After some deliberation, I was wheeled into the terminal and taken to the first floor — arrival immigration area. The security did stop us. However, they let us in only after they were told about the ‘emergency’ situation. I was then taken to a small facility that looked like an office where I was given an aspirin and a sorbitrate tablet to be kept under my tongue. They also gave me an injection.”
5.05 am:
When Wadhwa’s family reached the airport, his son was prevented by the security from parking the car close to CCD. “He insisted that I park at the parking bay. I told him what the emergency was, but he wouldn’t listen to me,” Manish says. Still, he managed to get to the coffee shop quickly searching for his father. Not finding him there, he called his number, which was answered by a medical staff. “They said they were wheeling my father to the medical facility on the first floor. By then, enough time had been wasted. I kept thinking I needed to reach my dad to the hospital within the Golden Hour.”
By this time, the ambulance from MS Ramiah Hospital had reached the spot. “It was parked on the far side of the road,” Manish says. He rushed to the ambulance driver and told him to stay put “as theairport security refused to let the ambulance park. They were telling him to ‘move on’ and that he was obstructing taxis and other passengers.”
5.45 am:
After the ambulance staff administered first aid Wadhwa was wheeled into the ambulance and driven to Columbia Asia Hospital. He reached the hospital at 6 am — after a harrowing one-and-a-half-hours. “The doctors said he had a heart attack and an angioplasty needed to be done,” Manish says. He was later shifted to Columbia Asia Hospital, Yeshwanthpur. Doctors have advised him to undergo a bypass surgery.
KIA insists that “prompt action was taken by staff of the airport security and hospital [which] helped save a life and such action must be recognized.” The spokesperson says, “Security checks are exempted for passengers with health emergency. By 5 am the ambulance was called to shift the patient to Columbia Asia.”
However, the Wadhwas have an entirely different opinion. Manish says that they were lucky that his father survived, “given the time he was left unattended to at an international airport like KIA, in spite of asking for help. This should not happen to another person.”
KIA says that there is a dedicated spot for ambulances at the kerb to ensure that no delay takes place during an emergency. “As a responsible and conscientious infrastructure, passenger safety and concern is of paramount importance at the Airport. The delay as mentioned is incorrect.” KIA claims they have a full-fledged medical facility available to passengers, partners and all individuals using or present at the airport.
At the
It panned out thus:
3.55 am:
Wadhwa’s son Manish ferried him from their home in RT Nagar to the taxi/bus stand in Hebbal from where he took a taxi to airport to catch a flight to Mumbai.
4.25 am:
As he was nearing airport, Wadhwa began feeling uneasy. He disembarked from the taxi sweating profusely, feeling nauseous. “I’m having a heart attack,” he thought. Yet, he managed to walk the short distance from the ‘drop off’ point to
4.30 am:
Wadhwa’s son, daughter and wife make a mad dash to the airport, 35 kms away. While Manish drove, his sister called Just Dial for KIA’s help desk. “The Help Desk called us back and we said that our father was having a heart attack and he was at Café Coffee Day,” Manish says. His sister, who had earlier worked in an airline, tried calling old friends at the airport but in vain due to the early hour. They called for an ambulance.
4.35 am:
At the airport, Wadhwa was still in pain — alone and with no help in sight. “I kept telling all and sundry: ‘Help me, I am having a heart attack. I am sinking'. But nobody helped. I remember clearly, people just stared.”
4.50 am:
By now, it was 25 minutes since Wadhwa first asked for help and Manish called the Help Desk at KIA. “Then I heard somebody — who seemed like medical staff — ask: Who is ill? I raised my hand with great difficulty and identified myself,” Wadhwa recalls. “I know they came after 20 minutes, because even in that hazy state I was counting every second and thinking of my family.”
A spokesperson for KIA who acknowledged the October 5 incident told Bangalore Mirror: “KIA authorities were informed of an emergency by CISF security at 4:45 am on the said date. The patient was at Café Coffee Day, outside the terminal. Paramedics arrived at the spot to attend to the passenger at 4:51 am. Passenger was given first aid and five minutes later taken to the clinic situated on the first floor at the Terminal in a wheelchair.” However, Wadhwa denies that any first aid was given to him at the ‘site’. “After some deliberation, I was wheeled into the terminal and taken to the first floor — arrival immigration area. The security did stop us. However, they let us in only after they were told about the ‘emergency’ situation. I was then taken to a small facility that looked like an office where I was given an aspirin and a sorbitrate tablet to be kept under my tongue. They also gave me an injection.”
5.05 am:
When Wadhwa’s family reached the airport, his son was prevented by the security from parking the car close to CCD. “He insisted that I park at the parking bay. I told him what the emergency was, but he wouldn’t listen to me,” Manish says. Still, he managed to get to the coffee shop quickly searching for his father. Not finding him there, he called his number, which was answered by a medical staff. “They said they were wheeling my father to the medical facility on the first floor. By then, enough time had been wasted. I kept thinking I needed to reach my dad to the hospital within the Golden Hour.”
By this time, the ambulance from MS Ramiah Hospital had reached the spot. “It was parked on the far side of the road,” Manish says. He rushed to the ambulance driver and told him to stay put “as the
5.45 am:
After the ambulance staff administered first aid Wadhwa was wheeled into the ambulance and driven to Columbia Asia Hospital. He reached the hospital at 6 am — after a harrowing one-and-a-half-hours. “The doctors said he had a heart attack and an angioplasty needed to be done,” Manish says. He was later shifted to Columbia Asia Hospital, Yeshwanthpur. Doctors have advised him to undergo a bypass surgery.
KIA insists that “prompt action was taken by staff of the airport security and hospital [which] helped save a life and such action must be recognized.” The spokesperson says, “Security checks are exempted for passengers with health emergency. By 5 am the ambulance was called to shift the patient to Columbia Asia.”
However, the Wadhwas have an entirely different opinion. Manish says that they were lucky that his father survived, “given the time he was left unattended to at an international airport like KIA, in spite of asking for help. This should not happen to another person.”
KIA says that there is a dedicated spot for ambulances at the kerb to ensure that no delay takes place during an emergency. “As a responsible and conscientious infrastructure, passenger safety and concern is of paramount importance at the Airport. The delay as mentioned is incorrect.” KIA claims they have a full-fledged medical facility available to passengers, partners and all individuals using or present at the airport.
