Indian Origin Doctor Fashions Makeshift Inhaler Onboard Flight, Saves Asthmatic Toddler's Life
A 2-year-old boy suffered an asthma attack onboard a transatlantic flight by creating a makeshift inhaler out of a cup and a bottle. Dr Khurshid Guru director of Robotic Surgery at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in NY was aboard the Air Canada flight from Spain to the US. He cut up a water bottle and added oxygen to one end and the adult inhaler through a small hole in the bottle. Within about half an hour and two treatments he was sounding mu...Read More
A quick-thinking Indian-origin doctor in the US saved the life of a 2-year-old boy who suffered an asthma attack onboard a transatlantic flight by creating a makeshift inhaler out of a cup and a bottle.
Dr Khurshid Guru, director of Robotic Surgery at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in NY, was aboard the Air Canada flight from Spain to the US on September 18 when he was notified of the toddler in trouble. The boy was crying and short of breath and his parents had accidentally packed his asthma medication in checked luggage, ABC News reported.
"The child had developed a cold. We were three or four hours into the flight. I think with the cold and popping of the ears and crying, he got worse," said Guru. The child's oxygen level was dipping to a dangerously low level. He needed oxygen but also asthma medication. However, the plane only had an adult inhaler on board, which would not be of much help, he said. Guru, who hails from J&K, came up with a jerry-rigged device similar to a nebuliser that would deliver both oxygen and asthma medication to the crying child.
Flying back from ERUS15 had to design a nebuliser for a 2 yr old asthmatic over the atlantic. Thank God kid did well! pic.twitter.com/fQOJ2Ac0EA
¡ª Khurshid A. Guru (@KhurshidGuru) September 18, 2015
He cut up a water bottle and added oxygen to one end and the adult inhaler through a small hole in the bottle. That way the oxygen and medication could be delivered through the bottle's opening directly to the child. "As the bottle went near to the child's face, he pushed it away. I got a water cup and made a hole in the bottle and focused it on his face ... told [the parents] to keep it there. Within about half an hour and two treatments he was sounding much better," Guru said.
After the very unusual treatment, the child's oxygen level were at normal levels, he said. By the time the plane landed, the 2-year-old was playing with his mother.
After the story was shared on social media, people appreciated the doctors effort to save the child.
Dr Khurshid Guru (J&K) made an inhaler of a cup and bottle to save a 2 year old asthmatic child on board an Air Canada flight. Kudos to him!
¡ª Yeshi Seli (@YeshiSeli) September 29, 2015
Great Job Dr. Khurshid Guru http://t.co/joPyVITvJO
¡ª Siddharth Jain (@sid1_cool) September 29, 2015
Read this news today morning! Take a Bow #Dr Khurshid Guru !! Doctors are the true " Messengers of God "! https://t.co/HlIkd0wh9h
¡ª Amitabh Laloriya (@amitabhlaloriya) September 29, 2015
A great example of thinking on the feet - a loud cheer for Dr. Khurshid Guru https://t.co/OWoEy4ryhS
¡ª Jasdeep (@singh_jasdeep) September 29, 2015
