Two leading cardiologists from the city today said the country needs to develop "a culture" where ambulances are given "respect" and allowed to move swiftly in traffic as it can be a life-saver for the heart attack patients.
"We appeal to the people to develop a culture of giving due respect to any ambulance which is carrying a critical patient to the hospital, because for the patients suffering a heart attack the initial one hour is the golden hour," said Dr Skand Trivedi, consultant cardiologist, Bansal Hospital.
He was speaking at a press conference on the occasion of World Heart Day.
Dr Apoorva Jain, another cardiologist, said, "If a patient gets proper treatment within an hour of getting heart attack, his chances of survival multiply many times and therefore it is said that the initial one hour is golden hour."
Dr Trivedi also said that the perception that advanced medical facilities are available only in top metro cities is incorrect. "These days such care is available in other big cities too and at affordable cost," he said.
Answering a question, he claimed that in the 1970s, 13 out of 100 people who suffered heart attack didn't survive, but now this rate has come down to one out of hundred.
