Mumbai Marathon 2018: 2 marathoners suffer cardiac arrest and paralysis respectively

This year, only 4.57% participants needed medical assistance during the Mumbai Marathon.

Editorial Team | Updated: January 22, 2018 9:52 am

Reports from yesterday’s Mumbai Marathon 2018 showed that only 2300 runners out of 44,407 who participated in the event needed medical assistance. What’s encouraging about the statistics is that the instances of medical emergencies during the marathon have been reducing over the years, which goes to show that Mumbai is maturing as a marathon city. Although majority of these instances were minor, two marathoners Pramod Singh Girase and Sukesh Kabra were hospitalised since their cases were critical and needed immediate medical attention. Girase experienced a cardiac arrest and Kabra suffered from a brain stroke that left him paralysed on the left half of his body.

Dr Vijay D’Silva, Medical Director and Director of Critical Care, Asian Heart Institute, said “Two patients have been admitted to Bombay Hospital. One patient collapsed near the end stretch. His heart had stopped. We revived him with artificial breathing, cardiac massage, defibrillation (electric shock to revive the heart). He regained consciousness and had normal vital parameters during his transfer to Bombay Hospital for further treatment, said Dr Vijay D’Silva, Medical Director and Director of Critical Care, Asian Heart Institute.

“The second patient felt disoriented after finishing the race and collapsed. He has suffered from paralysis of one side of the body and is a likely case of brain stroke. This must have happened due to electrolyte imbalance in the body. After reviving, he was shifted to Bombay Hospital for further treatment,” added Dr D’Silva
Most runners experienced minor medical problems such as muscle cramps, dehydration, minor injuries and exhaustion. Fifteen runners who suffered from dehydration were sent back after they were given intravenous fluid therapy at the medical base camps. Many of the runners were also given physiotherapy treatments.

Asian Heart Institute (AHI), medical partner to the TATA Mumbai Marathon, who has been providing medical assistance to the marathoners for the last fourteen years, attended to all these cases. AHI had set up 11 medical aid stations all along the route for any first aid requirements; 2 base camps (of 40 & 20 beds each) at the start/finish equipped to handle all emergencies.

The hospital deployed 11 cardiac ambulances (each with a doctor and a nurse to ply on the entire route). The team also had 8 ‘mobile medics’ (doctors on motorbikes for the entire route). Over 500 volunteers from AHI including doctors, nurses, paramedical and support staffs were on duty. This effort was headed by Dr. D’silva and Dr. Nilesh Gautam, Medical Director to the marathon itself and Head of Department of Cardiology & Preventive Cardiac Rehabilitation at Asian Heart Institute. Among the runners were 70 rehabilitated cardiac patients 13 of whom who ran half marathons and 57 were dream runners. It has to be noted that despite their prior medical condition, none of them needed medical assistance.

“I am proud that our Fit-2-Run (cardiac patients turned marathon runners), were able to complete the marathon. They did not need any medical treatment in spite of going through heart procedures. This shows that conditioning and preparation under medical supervision can avoid any problems during long runs,” said Dr Ramakanta Panda, Vice Chairman and Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgeon, Asian Heart Institute.

Dr. Nilesh Gautam, Head Preventive cardiology and Cardiac rehabilitation, Asian heart Institute added, “This is a great event for the city and Procam has once again put up a great show. On our part, we are happy that all the medical cases were attended to on time, and less than 5% of total participants needed medical attention. Last four years have proven to be the safest for Mumbai marathon. The Asian Heart Institutes’ medical team achieved zero percent mortality on course and hope to replicate this perfect score every year.”

Image source: Asian Heart Institute

Published: January 22, 2018 9:51 am | Updated:January 22, 2018 9:52 am

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