Railways claims TTE saved passenger, doctors disagree

The Railway Ministry shared a video of a travelling ticket examiner (TTE), performing CPR on a 70-year-old passenger, who allegedly suffered a heart attack. The video was shared widely on social media, with netizens praising the officials actions. However the video drew widespread criticism from doctors.

The Railway Ministry lauded the TTE and called him a "lifesaver." In the video, the man is laying awake, however appears to be distressed. The man recording the video asks the elderly man when he began to feel unwell. The TTE continues to perform CPR and even administering mouth to mouth breathing, even as he responds.

The post of X stated, "While travelling in the general coach of train number 15708 'Amrapali Express', a 70-year-old passenger suffered a heart attack. The TTE deployed there immediately gave CPR and saved the life of the passenger. The passenger was then sent to the hospital at Chhapra railway station."

Doctors discredited the TTEs move for performing CPR on a conscious person and called out the Railways for spreading misinformation. A doctor explained that performing CPR on a conscious person, on the contrary, can be 'very dangerous.'

The doctor wrote "Performing CPR on a patient who is conscious is very dangerous and wrong. This is no joke. CPR is a life-saving procedure. Please delete this video so that people don't lose lives over misinformation", Hindustan Times reported.

While Dr Nawazish Khan, said "CPR is not performed on conscious patients. The procedure is reserved exclusively for those who are unresponsive & not breathing or have an ineffective pulse. Performing CPR on a conscious patient violates medical protocols & can result in legal liability for the responder."

"He is awake, you DO NOT do CPR on awake person. You don't do CPR just for heart attack. Govt officials should not post such misleading articles," said cardiologist Dr Shariq Shamim.

The report stated that an RTI has been filed by an activist, to enquire about the TTE's medical training and details of the investigation of the incident by the Railways.