80-year-old Sri T. Ramanujam was traveling from Nagpur to Chennai by the Grand Trunk Express. The train was late by two hours. Finally, a tired Mr. Ramanujam got down and was escorted by his son-in-aw out of the train. On the way, he suddenly collapsed and was helped to a bench with the hope that rest for a few minutes will help; it did not, instead he felt worse. With the help of bystanders, he was brought to the Emergency Medical Center run by Sri Ramachandra Medical Center at Central Station, gasping for breath.

Lakhs of passengers and their families transit through Chennai Central station each day. Many of them are frail and elderly and there is a good chance that any one of them can have a medical mishap. The presence of the Emergency Medical Center run by Sri Ramachandra Medical Center in Chennai Central Station is a unique feature of the Chennai Central Station. It provides emergency assistance for passengers and helps them to get back on their way. Occasionally, patients like Mr. Ramanujam who have a life threatening emergency show up at its door.

Emergency Medical Center at Central Railway Station has been functioning for the past six months. It is staffed 24 x 7 by a doctor who is trained in emergency medical care. The Center is connected with Sri Ramachandra Medical Center via telemedicine and specialists at Sri Ramachandra Medical Center have the facility to monitor and direct the care of the patient in the Emergency Medical Center. Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute is the only institution in the South that has a postgraduate training programme for doctors who want to specialize in emergency medicine [MD (A & E)] and also a three-year B.Sc. program in Emergency and Trauma Care Technology.

On arrival at the Emergency Medical Center, Mr. Ramanujam was short of breath and was sweating profusely. He had a very low blood pressure. The emergency doctor suspected that Mr. Ramanujam had pulmonary embolism. This is a condition that occurs commonly in passengers who remain sitting and immobile for a long period of time. Popularly called the economy class syndrome, this disease is characterized by formation of clots in the veins of the lower legs; occasionally the clot moves up through the veins and lodges itself in the lung causing shortness of breath, circulatory collapse and frequently death.

Mr. Ramanujam was immediately stabilized and shifted via an ambulance stationed at Central Station to Sri Ramachandra Medical Center at his request. During the transit, the patient was monitored by Emergency and Trauma Care Technologists, who were in constant contact with the specialists at the medical center. On arrival at the hospital, the diagnosis was confirmed by the Cardiologist and the patient was given immediate treatment to dissolve the clot. He has now fully recovered and is back home with his grand children.

Prompt recognition and availability of immediate medical care are the keys to saving lives in an emergency. In an area like Central Station where a large mass of humanity transit day-in and day-out, the presence of a round the clock facility and trained doctors and technologists from Sri Ramachandra Medical Center makes a difference between life and death.