IIT Kanpur Graduates’ Quick Thinking Helps Save a Man’s Life Mid-air
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IIT Kanpur Graduates’ Quick Thinking Helps Save a Man’s Life Mid-air

A senior undergraduate student studying electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has now, with his constructive quick thinking has helped save a man’s life mid-flight when faced with a daily medication-related problem.

Karttikeya Mangalam, was enroute to India after appearing his final semester exam at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, where he was an exchange student, on a Geneva-Delhi flight. It was then that he noticed a commotion on the flight which was a medical emergency involving a Type-1 Diabetes patient who has forgotten to collect his insulin pump back from the security check at the airport.

His severe diabetic condition was dealt with by an on-board passenger who was a doctor. But since the doctor had used a different dosage and chemical composition of the insulin than the one normally administered to the passenger(Thomas), he experienced an adverse reaction and passed out- risking multi-organ failure or worse, lapse into a coma.

Acknowledging this grave situation and not succumbing to pressure, Karttikeya Mangalam immediately started to act on it- he asked one of the stewardesses for access to the premium Wi-Fi connection, and once online, looked

up a manual and found a large engineering drawing style diagram describing how every part of the insulin pen fits with the other.

Remembering lessons from the engineering drawing class he took during the first year of college, Mangalam collected, assembled the insulin pump using ball point pens on-board; and handed it over to the doctor who adjusted the dose, changed the needle and successfully injected the passenger with the correct insulin.

Some 15 minutes later, the doctor reported that Thomas’ blood sugar levels had stopped rising and were steadily decreasing to normal.

“Quickly, I reassembled the pen and gave it back to the doctor. He adjusted the dose, changed the needle and injected the proper dosage of Thomas’s insulin. In about another 15 minutes, his blood sugar levels stopped rising and then started coming down, the doctor reported,” writes Mangalam, narrating the incident.

“On the stretcher in the ambulance, he thanked me a lot and told me to come visit him in Amsterdam where he owns a restaurant and brewery. I supposedly will receive as much free food and beer as I want when I come,” Mangalam quips.

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