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Apollo airlifts 100 patients
On Friday, Dr Ajith Amarasinghe, Consultant Paediatrician with Apollo Hospitals in Colombo, held a teleconference with Dr Reddy and a team of presspersons in Chennai to describe the remarkable turn of events for 39-year-old Mythili, a Jaffna housewife, and her infant in the last few days.
The boy was born on June 5 to Mythili who was sub fertile for four years and suffers from a respiratory distress syndrome. The baby too suffered from a severe respiratory disorder, Amarasinghe said. Its condition was deteriorating and the hospital at Jaffna was not equipped enough since the neonatal ventilators were not functioning. The ethnic strife in Sri Lanka had brought about a situation where the hospital was found inadequate at times like these. A Sri Lankan airforce helicopter was then pressed into service to airlift the baby to Apollo Colombo. Two Apollo-trained emergency doctors and a neonatal nurse with necessary equipment flew with the baby, providing treatment on board the helicopter during the 90-minute travel. At Apollo Colombo, the baby was in NICU (Neuro Intensive Care Unit) where appropriate treatment and mechanical respiratory support using a specialised neonatal ventilator were provided. Admitted on June 6, the boy was discharged from the hospital and taken back to Jaffna by road on June 11. Dr Reddy said, “The promptness shown by the medical team at Colombo is commendable and we are proud to have been able to save the life of the baby. It has always been our endeavour to provide affordable world-class healthcare facilities and will continue to do so in future”.
The boy's parents said, “It was a miraculous day and we are at a loss for words to express our joy and happiness. We are grateful to Apollo Colombo and will never be able to repay the hospital for the help rendered to us and only hope that they continue to grow and provide help to all patients across the world.”
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Copyright
2008, Chennai Interactive
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For the Chennai-based Apollo Hospitals, the airlifting of the 100th patient since the inception of the helicopter service two years ago, was itself an event worthy of celebration. What gave its chairman Dr Pratap C Reddy and his team special joy was that the 100th patient was a two-day-old baby who had to be airlifted from Jaffna to the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.
With a view to improving facilities in northern Sri Lanka, Apollo Hospitals planned to open a hospital in Jaffna too, he added. Dr Reddy also made an impassioned plea to permit the opening of an Organ Bank in Chennai which would enable immediate supply of vital organs to patients who are desperately in need of life-saving measures.
