Between Beats: A Life Fought for and Won”

It began as a seemingly ordinary day when suddenly, we were alerted to an emergency—one of our own, a fellow healthcare worker, had been experiencing chest pain for the past three days, which had worsened drastically over the last hour. He was en route to the Emergency Department when he suddenly collapsed inside the hospital lift.

Within moments, chaos ensued. A crowd of 15 to 20 people—his colleagues, friends, and onlookers—surrounded the resuscitation bay. Tension filled the air. Voices overlapped, multiple suggestions and emotions flooded the room, and the atmosphere grew increasingly intense. The pressure was palpable, with every second stretching thin under the weight of fear and urgency.

Yet amidst the commotion, we had only one goal—revive him. The noise, the crowd, the confusion—all faded into the background. In that critical moment, our focus narrowed to one life, one heartbeat, one mission: resuscitation.

Mr. Pasalkar was in cardiac arrest, his heart overwhelmed by ventricular fibrillation. The emergency team acted with precision and urgency. Multiple defibrillations, chest compressions, and critical medications—adrenaline, amiodarone, lignocaine—were administered according to ACLS protocol. After an intense 30-minute battle, spontaneous circulation was restored.

But the fight wasn’t over. He was immediately transferred to the Cath Lab, where angiography revealed a 100% occlusion of the left anterior descending artery. A stent was deployed, but moments later, he slipped into ventricular tachycardia. Another round of CPR. Another shock. A repeat angiogram revealed acute stent thrombosis, which was quickly managed with stent replacement.

He was critically ill, but not alone. Over the next few days, he received ventilatory support, SLED dialysis, and continuous, multidisciplinary critical care. Slowly, he emerged from the haze. He was extubated. He spoke. He smiled. And eventually, he stood—alive, stable, recovering.

This is the beauty and power of Emergency Medicine.
In moments when every second matters, when the line between life and death is razor-thin, it is the skill, speed, and spirit of the Emergency Department that makes the difference.