Secret Service and White House medical staff helping Manku Singh after he collapsed inside the White House

Over Seas

Sikh Journalist suffered Heart Attack in White House, Life saved

By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

March 24, 2015

Washington: A Sikh journalist reportedly suffered a heart attack inside the White House, but a prompt response by US Secret Service personnel saved his life.

Manku Singh, a community reporter-cum-cameraperson for TV Asia – the largest South Asian cable network in the US, who also happens to be the only Sikh journalist accredited to the White House, collapsed in the East Room while covering the White House Science Fair moments before President Barack Obama was to speak.

As per media reports the alert Secret Service personnel present on the spot immediately responded to him and called the ambulance. The emergency responders who tried to revive him found that he had no pulse and they used cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which is commonly known as CPR, to try to revive him while administering oxygen.

After about four minutes, one of the technicians said, “We have a rhythm.”

The emergency medical technicians later said Manku Singh had a strong pulse.

He was transferred to the nearby George Washington hospital.

At the hospital, soon, Manku Singh underwent a heart catheterisation, and the early signs were reported to be encouraging.

“Secret Service literally saves a life in back of East Room,” Benjamin Corb, who was in the East Room representing the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, tweeted about the incident.