IAS officer ‘saves life’ of commoner by giving CPR; doctors term it blunder; watch

2008-batch IAS officer Yashpal Garg, currently posted as the Health Secretary in Chandigarh, grabbed the headlines after his video went viral on the internet in which he is seen performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a person, who reportedly suffered a heart attack.

As per media reports, Janak Lal, a resident of Chandigarh Sector-41, went to the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) office. However, suddenly he collapsed after suffering a heart attack. 

In such a grim situation, without waiting for any medical assistance from any professional, IAS officer Garg instantly came near Lal and started giving him CPR. While Lal was sitting still on a chair for a while, after CPR, his condition improved and he asked for water to drink. 

After feeling better, he was even admitted to a government multi-specialty hospital, stated reports.

Though the video was shared on Twitter in January, it has gone viral with netizens showering praises on the IAS officer who saved his life with his immediate action.

However, the video originally shared by Swati Maliwal, Chairperson, Delhi Commission for Women, has put the internet in splits. Several professional doctors opined that it was not the right way to conduct CPR.

एक आदमी को हार्ट अटैक आया तो चंडीगढ़ के हेल्थ सेक्रेटरी IAS @Garg_Yashpal जी ने तुरंत CPR देकर उस आदमी की जान बचाई। उनके इस काम की जितनी सराहना की जाए उतनी कम है। हार्ट अटैक से जानें बचाई जा सकती हैं। हर इंसान को CPR सीखना चाहिए। pic.twitter.com/C7dWVsAoOI

— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) January 18, 2023

Criticising the IAS officer, Dr. Anmol Kapoor wrote, “It seems like person had syncope, & appears to be awake when “CPR” is getting administered. 2nd, this is a wrong way of doing CPR.”

“छाती पर हर कोई कॉम्प्रेशंस CPR नहीं होता। यह एक खास प्रक्रिया है जो सही समय पर होनी चाहिए, एक सांस लेते हुए उठे हुए व्यक्ति पर कतई नहीं करनी चाहिए। Pls pls don't do it randomly, it can break ribs and chest bone to say the least. Learn the proper reasons and the proper way,” wrote Dr Aviral Vatsa.

“He had hypoglycaemia or some syncope and not cardiac arrest which warrant CPR. And you don’t do CPR on a breathing person sitting in a chair. This video must be circulated as an example of how not to do cpr and where not to do CPR. I hope they didn’t break his ribs unnecessarily,” wrote Swathi Bellam, an Orthodontist.

Many other users even lashed out at Swati Maliwal for sharing the video with the wrong message and the wrong way of conducting CPR.