A video of two surgeons using their bodies to protect a patient on an operating table during an earthquake has gone viral on social media. The video was captured inside an operating room in Japan’s Kumamoto General Hospital.
The video, captured on July 28 at around 4:30 pm, shows total chaos inside an operating room. It captures medical equipment, trollies, and other items inside the room displaced due to the tremors.
As a few medical professionals are knocked to the ground. Amid the chaos, two surgeons are seen covering a patient with their bodies to keep them out of harm's way.
Since its release, the video has been shared by many on social media. “This is what operating under extreme pressure looks like. Surgeons at Kumamoto General Hospital in Japan were mid-operation when an earthquake struck. You can see the anaesthetised patient and equipment in the operating theatre swaying violently, but despite this, the surgical team held the patient steady and kept their calm,” UK-based gastroenterologist Keith Siau wrote on X while sharing the video.
What did the hospital say?
“Everyone just had to step up and deal with the situation as best they could,” Shotaro Yoshihara, a spokesman for the hospital, told the New York Times.
{{/usCountry}}“Everyone just had to step up and deal with the situation as best they could,” Shotaro Yoshihara, a spokesman for the hospital, told the New York Times.
{{/usCountry}}“It would be a devastating blow if a large-scale hospital like ours were unable to provide care,” Yoshihara said, adding, “We were all working with our full effort to get operations back up and running quickly.”
Reportedly, at the time of the quake, there were four surgeries going on at the hospital. The spokesperson stated that they were completed after the tremors stopped.
Social media reacts:
Though the viral video left viewers terrified, people were quick to praise the doctors who made the patient’s safety their priority.
Commenting on the intensity of the quake, an individual posted, “That's absolutely wild, it almost looked like everything got lifted up for a split second, props to the surgeons and medical team though.” Another expressed, “Seeing them covering the patient brought a smile to my face. Thank you, doctors.”
A third added, “These are the true lifesaving doctors.” A fourth wrote, “Doctors desperately trying to protect their patients amid intense shaking... I truly respect them from the bottom of my heart.”
The earthquake wreaked havoc across Kumamoto, located on Japan’s Kyushu island, killing 38 people. It also caused the collapse of several buildings.