On 13 September, 2025, Health Live@Seniors Today hosted Dr Sandeep Gore, an Emergency Medicine Specialist. He spoke on and answered questions about First aid and Emergency Medical aid for Seniors.
Dr Sandeep Gore is a distinguished emergency medicine specialist with over 17 years of experience. He serves as Director in the Department of Accident and Emergency Medicine at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai, and Chairman of the Emergency Medicine Council at Fortis Healthcare, India.
He is instrumental in shaping the future of Emergency Medicine as the National Vice President of the Society for Emergency Medicine India (SEMI). He has made tremendous contributions to the field, often through clinical innovation, pioneering academics and education, public awareness, policy advocacy, and crisis management.
Dr Gore is a unique combination of physician and public intellectual whose expertise in multiple areas has redefined emergency care in India. He did pioneer work in spreading the knowledge and skills of point of care ultrasound among Emergency Medicine doctors. The annual program which he has been conducting for almost a decade “Point of Care Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine – POCUS in EM” is the most coveted and highest endorsed program in point of care ultrasound in India.
After graduating from BJ Medical College, Pune, Dr Gore completed his Fellowship in Emergency Medicine from Christian Medical College, Vellore. Later, he achieved the Membership of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (MRCEM) qualification from the UK and European Board Certification in Emergency Medicine (EBCEM).
He is India’s first ELSO-certified Emergency Physician and specialised in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for advanced emergency care. He is a senior Examiner for RCEM and an academic supervisor. He also holds an MBA degree from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, which enhances his healthcare leadership capabilities.
Dr Gore teaches at various prestigious institutions across the country, including AIIMS Delhi, CMC Vellore, PGI Chandigarh etc. A trailblazer in Emergency Medicine, his unmatched skills and innovative practices address India’s critical health burdens, including cardiovascular diseases, trauma, and paediatric emergencies. He has delivered lectures at various national and international conferences – ICEM ( Dubai-2021, Melbourne-2022, Amsterdam-2023 and Taipei-2024, ACEM(Antalya- 2017, Delhi -2019) , and EMCON( all annual conferences from 2011 to 2024).
He is involved in research and frequently writes on a wide range of topics related to emergency care for various publications. Dr Gore is also an avid trekker, leading various expeditions in the Sahyadris and Himalayas to raise awareness about organ donation. His campaigns at Everest Base Camp and Stock Kangri in particular, where he engaged with diverse audiences, reinforced his unwavering commitment to public health. A recipient of the Times Healthcare Leadership Award 2024. His Emergency Medical rescue work in the 2005 landslide and flood disaster was acknowledged by the Government of Maharashtra. His Emergency work in COVID pandemic was acknowledged by the Maharashtra Governor.
An emergency is an injury or illness that is acute in nature and poses immediate risk to the individual’s life or long term health; unless medically intervened in a timely fashion.
Medical emergencies include:
- Heart attack
- Paralytic attack/ weakness on one side of the body
- Difficulty in breathing
- Unresponsive patient
- Road traffic accidents
- Poisoning
- Bites and stings
Heart attack:
A patient with heart attack will complain of:
- Retrosternal chest pain
- Pain can be radiating to left arm, jaw and back
- Profuse sweating
- Occasionally, burning in the chest
Risk factors are both modifiable and non modifiable. We can try and to keep in control the modifiable risk factors such as:
- Diabetes mellitus
- Obesity
- High blood pressure should be controlled
- Cholesterol levels should be maintained
- Avoid excessive drinking and smoking
The non modifiable risk factors include:
- Ethnicity
- Hereditary
- Age
- Gender
Cause: Heart attack occurs when there is a sudden blockage of a vessel which is supplying to the walls of the heart itself. This leads to the above mentioned symptoms.
Do not neglect these symptoms. No chest pain should be neglected. In fact any type of chest pain should be investigated and evaluated by qualified medical personnel.
These patients should immediately be taken to the emergency room and an ECG is advised by the doctor. Following this a TroponinI test is also done. Based on these- we label the pain as cardiac or non cardiac chest pain.
If the pain is due to a blockage, the clot can be dissolved by giving an injection. The gold standard is an angioplasty, wherein the clot is removed and the area is revascularised.
Age is no bar for heart attack in today’s time. Heart attacks are no longer age dependent.
Avoid junk food items for the younger population.
Stroke:
Stroke is like a brain attack. A clot in the brain can lead to blockage of blood supply to that part of the brain resulting in weakness/ paralysis of the affected part of the body.
If the patient is taken to the hospital within the first 3 hours from the onset of his symptoms and timely intervened, there is a chance of completely reversing the damage caused by the clot.
The window has now increased from 3 hours to 4.5 hours.
Acting within the stipulated time is of the utmost importance in a case of both stroke and heart attack. Timely treatment and intervention can not only reduce the chances of mortality, it also reduces the risk of morbidity and long term damage.
Acute exacerbation of Asthma:
An acute attack of asthma presents a severe and acute onset of difficulty in breathing. This is caused due to the constriction of the bronchioles on coming in contact with allergens.
Precautions include a known asthmatic patient to avoid:
- Contact with animals
- Pollens
- Dust
- Cigarette smoke
- Any other known allegers known to the patient
An asthmatic patient should have his pumps readily available with him at all times. In case of an acute attack, he should take 2 puffs of the same and keep repeating till symptoms are relieved.
If the symptoms do not subside, the patient should immediately go to the emergency room.
Unconscious/ unresponsive patient:
- An unconscious or unresponsive patient who does not respond to a call is also an emergency.
- Never try to feed an unconscious patient, since the food can occasionally and accidentally also enter the patients airway resulting in aspiration.
- In this case, you should immediately seek medical help without any delay at all.
- This patient should be placed on his left side, this also helps in the secretions of the body to come out.
- An unresponsive patient can also be a case of sudden cardiac arrest. This needs to be immediately identified- this is done by tapping both the shoulders of the patient and taking his name. If the patient does not respond, check his pulse around his neck. If the pulse is absent, you should immediately start chest compressions.
- This is all a part of the basic life support which we should all know how to do and perform, when the need arises.
- You need to do 100-120 chest compressions per minute, continuously.
- While giving chest compressions, your (the person giving compressions) shoulder joint is used as a fulcrum and your arm should be the pivot and you need to give regular approx 5cm deep compressions. While performing the compressions, the patient should be moved to the emergency room where if necessary/ in case of presence of a shockable pulse, shock can be given.
- The ventilation of the person should also be checked.
Road traffic accidents (RTA)
- India has become the world’s capital for road traffic accidents. It is responsible for 12% of all deaths caused due to RTAs.
- The young are more prone to RTAs.
- It then becomes our responsibility to provide the young with the necessary first aid till they are taken to the hospital.
- This can and should be done by giving the patient oxygen, ensuring an open airway, etc
- In the case of a trauma patient with head injury, adequate oxygenation, ventilation and timely intervention can be life saving.
- In trauma patients, the care is time sensitive. Always rush a trauma patient to a hospital within the first hour.
Bites and stings
- In India we tend to neglect dog bites and other animal bites which has led to India being the capital of rabies as well resulting in the highest number of deaths due to rabies.
- A dog bite should be properly cleaned and then taken to the hospital for immunisation with the immunoglobulin as well as the anti rabies vaccine.
- Rabies has a 100% morbidity rate which is why it is advised to get the necessary medical care- regardless of whether the animal was a stray or a domesticated animal.
