The Jammu and Kashmir administration has felicitated the doctors and the staff who were captured in a video performing a surgery in spite of the earthquake and power outage on Tuesday evening, at south Kashmir’s Sub-District Hospital, Bijbehara.
In the video, the staff is seen performing the surgery on a pregnant woman with tables and lights shaking around. The panic-stricken staff could be seen reciting prayers as the electricity goes off in between. The doctors, however, maintained their cool and decided to go ahead with the surgery. The video was widely circulated by the netizens in Jammu and Kashmir.
A day after, Health Department Director Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, along with the Chief Medical Officer and Block Medical Officer, visited the medical facility and felicitated the staff with bouquets.
“I want to appreciate and salute the staff. This is a proud moment for all of us. During the Turkey earthquake recently, we saw how people were running to save their lives. But our staff, without caring for their lives, stood firm and performed the surgery. They saved two precious lives,” Dr. Rather said.
Dr. Rather said the doctors were also giving hope to the patient in the video and did not compromise with the privacy of the patient. “It was highly encouraging,” he said.
The doctor, who performed the surgery, said she was a little worried as the tremor’s intensity was growing “but wanted to save the lives first”. The medical staff was handling an emergency caesarean section when strong tremors were felt in Kashmir on Tuesday evening, after an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.6 struck Afghanistan.