Karachi: It took thirteen relentless minutes between life and death for a SEIHS 1122 crew to drag a silent heart back from the brink near Nisar Shaheed Park on Tuesday morning—CPR compressions never breaking rhythm, an adrenaline shot delivered on the curb, a single AED shock, and finally, at 9:31am, a fragile blip on the monitor swelling into a pulse.
The patient, identified as Ali Asghar, had collapsed without warning—no heartbeat, no breathing—before bystanders sprinted him to a SIEHS 1122 ambulance stationed a few steps away.
This was not a routine fainting spell; it was a textbook out-of-hospital cardiac arrest where seconds decide outcomes. The Sindh Integrated Emergency & Health Services SIEHS–1122 team moved like clockwork: one rescuer securing the airway and ventilations, another locking elbows for high-quality chest compressions, a third preparing the AED and drugs.
Thirteen minutes later, return of spontaneous circulation was achieved and the crew transported the revived patient to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) while continuing post-resuscitation care en route.
“We reached the patient with no pulse and no breathing,” said Abidullah, the Emergency Medical Technician who led the response. “We delivered assisted breaths, began uninterrupted CPR, administered adrenaline and gave one AED shock. We kept CPR going right up to NICVD. That’s what made the difference—immediate action, not losing a second.”
Colleagues who rushed the patient to the ambulance admitted panic gave way to presence of mind when they saw the 1122 unit nearby. “Our coworker suddenly collapsed,” said Muhammad Asghar. “We were running with him when someone shouted to call 1122. The ambulance was right outside. They started treatment on the spot and then took him to the cardiac hospital. It all happened so fast.”
In his early 50s, the survivor later described a familiar tangle of risks: long workdays, late nights, missed meals and untreated hypertension. “I have blood pressure and take daily medicine, but that morning I forgot—and skipped breakfast,” he said. “The doctors have told me to cut fried foods, walk every day and take my medicines on time. I’ve started doing that. I’m taking this as a second chance.”
SIEHS–Rescue 1122 says its modern ambulances carry trained professionals, 29 categories of critical equipment and essential emergency medicines to handle exactly these moments—when a parked ambulance becomes the last wall between life and death. Officials add that their crews have already provided emergency care to well over 100,000 cardiac patients across Sindh, with more than 30 such cases handled daily.
The Nisar Shaheed Park resuscitation underscores three simple truths that save lives: call 1122 immediately, start CPR without delay, and defibrillate shockable rhythms as soon as an AED is available. Each link buys precious brain time until a heart can be reset, oxygen restored and a patient delivered to definitive cardiac care.
For Karachi’s office workers, commuters and families who use the park at all hours, the lesson is as practical as it is profound: know your nearest 1122 point, learn hands-only CPR, and don’t second-guess chest pain, breathlessness or sudden collapse. On this morning, access, preparation and skill were aligned—and a man who arrived without a heartbeat left the scene alive.
Ends