JAMMU: With a vision to make the society free from the burden of cardiovascular diseases, Dr Sushil Sharma, HoD Cardiology GMCH Jammu, organized a day-long camp at Government High School Khojipur Tehsil, Bishnah.
Accompanied by a team of young doctors, paramedics and volunteers, Dr Sushil Sharma examined people of the area for prevalence of cardiac diseases and other health ailments. More than 300 people were screened.
They were thoroughly evaluated, diagnosed and free medicines were given as per the requirements.
Dr Sushil Sharma during his interaction with the patients dwelt in detail the necessity of swiftness in saving one’s life during cardiac emergencies. We had a mantra about heart attacks: time is muscle. “Time is muscle” means the faster you call and the faster you get treatment, the better your chances of preserving heart function. The purpose of this phrase is to encourage us to reduce what is known as “door to balloon time” in primary Angioplasty or the time between the moments when a patient enters the hospital having a heart attack, with the artery of the heart muscle blocked to the time that artery gets opened up again. Oxygen is crucial to the health of the heart muscle, so every minute the heart muscle does not receive it can lead to major damage.
Our general goal is to open the arteries within 90 minutes or less from the moment the patient walks in the door of the Hospital, and recent statistics show that almost 60% of patients are treated in less than 90 minutes.
“Time is muscle” and muscle is life, so as cardiologists, we must take this very seriously. It is a critical part of quality care, and it is literally a matter of life and death in patient with Coronary artery disease’ he stressed.
Keeping in view the adage time is muscle, Dr. Sushil advised that quick diagnosis and treatment can save lives and reduce or prevent any further damage to the heart. It’s never too late to take steps to prevent a heart attack.
Residents of the area Rajesh Sharma, Prof R.C Sharma (retired), Rajkumar Sharma applauded the efforts of Dr Sushil Sharma and his team for taking special care of the people belonging to rural areas and expressed hope that such kind of initiatives would be taken in the coming days also.
Others who were part of this compassionate effort included Dr. Mohi Kalsotra, Dr. Dhaneshwar Kapoor, Dr Chakshu Mahajan. Paramedics and volunteers who were part of the team include Kamal Kishore, Kashmiri Lal, Raghav Rajput, Vikas Sabharwal, Suresh Sharma, Ankush Kohli, Prabhjot Singh, Harvinder Singh, Akshay Kumar, Gourav Sharma, Rajkumar, Sandeep Tickoo, Rajeev Vohra, Vicky Singh and Vikas Kumar.