Shubhanshu Shukla, a pilot with the Indian Air Force and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), became the first ISRO astronaut in July 2025 to visit the International Space Station while participating in the Axiom Mission 4. After his return to Earth, the 39-year-old astronaut has been reflecting on the journey, sharing it with people on social media.
In his recent post that has received 57.8K views and 1.7K likes, the astronaut shared that they tackle medical emergencies in space, when there are no hospitals or doctors by their side or nearby.
Quick response in medical emergencies
He began the thread by explaining that people have to be quick in responding to medical problems in space while ensuring that they do not panic. Depending on the situation, one could be a doctor, a nurse or a support staff.
Additionally, he shared that they keep on rehearsing for medical emergencies "nonstop". This is done by practising on a mannequin that goes into a cardiac arrest over and over so the astronauts can practice techniques such as CPR, mouth-to-mouth and firing up the AED to shock the heart back to rhythm.
Blood pressure in space
However, he added that similar to Earth, blood pressure crashes in space, and the veins collapse. Thus, on ISS, they practice intraosseous infusion, which includes pushing meds into the bone marrow. This is because the marrow vessels remain open when the veins don't and thus the medicine reaches the body fast.
CPR in space
Shukla shared that his favourite fun fact is doing CPR in space. Since in zero gravity both the patient and the team are floating, a person has to flip upside down and plant their feet firmly on the station's ceiling. Then they have to push off their legs while doing chest compressions, much like a "zero-gravity upside-down wall push-up"
"Space medicine is equal parts science & acrobatics, CPR looks like wall push-ups, meds go into bone marrow, and every drill could mean survival. Space is wild… but being ready for the wild keeps us alive," he wrote at the end of the post.
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