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Indian city stops traffic to save heart transplant patient

Chennai traffic police has tied up with a private company to deliver traffic jam updates by SMS free of cost

Traffic came to a halt in Chennai, India, on Monday, and it wasn't because of rush-hour congestion.

It was because of a heart.

Surgeons and city traffic police coordinated the express delivery that made headlines all over the country.

When a heart became available for transplant at Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital, surgeons started prepping transplant patient, 21-year-old Hvovi Minocherhomji, at Fortis Malar Hospitals in Adyar, more than 12 kilometres away.

They anticipated heavy rush hour traffic slowing down the organ's delivery, decreasing the odds of the a successful transplant, so they contacted traffic police.

Police mapped the ambulance's route and posted 26 officers at 12 intersections, creating a red light-free "green corridor" that allowed the heart to arrive at its intended destination in 13 minutes and 22 seconds, rather than the usual 45.

"We in the police take medical emergencies seriously and in case of organ transplants make all efforts to help patients," S. Sivanandan, the nodal officer for the Green Corridor operation, told the Hindustan Times.

"The request like the one we got from Fortis Malar requiring help in transporting the heart harvested from a donor is rare. Within an hour, we informed all the traffic inspectors to facilitate smooth passage of the ambulance," he added.

According to experts, a human heart should not be without blood circulation for more than four hours. In this case, the heart was loaded onto the ambulance at 6:40 p.m., and was successfully transplanted well within that window of time.

"As soon as the heart was brought, the transplant began. By 10:15pm, the heart was beating in the patient's chest," said Dr. Suresh Rao, chief anesthetist at Fortis Malar.

"The patient is fine and all her vital parameters are functioning normally," Rao told the Hindustan Times on Tuesday.

"She is up, talking and smiling but would take some time to get discharged."

Hvovi Minocherhomji, a commerce student from Mumbai, had been diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. During her final exam, she had a stroke and collapsed. A heart transplant was her only chance at survival.

"Hvovi wouldn't have been able to survive for more than six months had the heart transplant not been done. After she was admitted into our hospital, we put her on waiting list. After waiting for about two weeks, we got the heart tissue of a 27-year-old, the victim of a road accident, who was declared brain dead. It matched that of Hvovi, who is O-positive," said Dr. K.R. Balakrishnan, the director of cardiac sciences at Fortis Malar Hospital.

"Heart transplant procedure is not new to us. After harvesting the heart from the brain-dead patient, we had to implant it in Hvovi within four hours. With the help of the police, we have established a system called green corridor. All signals go green and the traffic police are informed that a heart is being transported. The vehicle transporting the heart from the government hospital to Fortis Malar was provided an escort vehicle. We transplanted the heart, and Hvovi will now have to spend at least a week in the intensive care unit. A heart transplant patient can easily lead a normal life for more than 10 years," he added.

Minocherhomji's mother, Amaity, expressed her gratitude to the donor's family with IANS.

"My heart goes out for the brave mother who agreed to donate the heart and other organs of her son (declared brain dead in an accident) despite her immense grief," she said. "Only a mother with a child suffering a terminal stage heart ailment can understand the stress and emotions of another mother who has lost her son."

"We are indebted to Chennai and the mother whose son's heart gave a new lease of life to my daughter," Amaity added.