Collapsed Indigo passenger was not a heart patient: Bhagwat Karad

Panaji, Nov 17 The Indigo airlines passenger who collapsed in-flight during a Delhi-Mumbai run on Tuesday, was not a heart patient, but could have been affected by the vasovagal syncope, which causes fainting due to a quick reflex action, Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Karad said on Wednesday.

Karad, who was travelling by the same flight, had rushed to the patient's assistance and photos of the incident taken mid-air went viral, with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi praising his junior cabinet colleague for the timely medical assistance.

"Around 2 a.m. on that night, the air hostess started shouting 'is there any doctor in this plane'. I heard that. I stood up and I told her 'I am a doctor, any help you want'. She said 'sir please come here. One man is lying down between two seats'. I rushed there. one man who was sitting on seat 12, he was lying down between the two seats. I saw immediately felt his pulse, his pulse was weak," Karad told reporters in Goa, where is attending a government conference.

"The pulse was weak, which means BP was low. So I lifted his two legs for two to three minutes. I took assistance from other passengers. I told him to raise his legs. I opened the buttons of his chest. Did a compress. I saw his pulse. His pulse had improved. There was a bounding pulse. I was assured that his BP had raised," Karad added.

The Union Finance MoS further said that at his request, the patient was offered two glasses of glucose water, following which he was in a position to speak.

"I asked him if he had pain in the chest, because that is a sign of heart attack. He said 'I do not have any pain'. He said, he had suddenly gotten up to go to the toilet and he collapsed. This kind of syndrome is called vasovagal syncope," Karad said.

Images of Karad's attending to the passenger in distress had gone viral, with even Indigo Airlines tweeting about the incident, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to by saying "A doctor at heart, always! Great gesture by my colleague @DrBhagwatKarad".