A Thai rescue worker probably wasn't expecting an elephant to be one of his patients when he was called to action recently.

CPR on an elephant

Mana Srivate, 26, received a call for assistance in the eastern province of Chanthaburi on Dec. 20 while off duty on a road trip, reported Reuters.

Arriving at the scene, it turned out that a motorcycle had struck a baby elephant that was at the tail-end of a large herd that was crossing the road at the time.

It was the first time Mana had performed CPR on an elephant.

But in a video that has since gone viral on Facebook, he seemed self-assured as he carried out two-handed chest compressions on the animal, which was lying on its side on the road.

In the background, workers can be seen treating the motorcyclist, also lying on the ground.

Mana told Reuters that he had assumed where the elephant's heart would be based on "human theory and a video clip [he] saw online".

After 10 minutes, the elephant slowly got up.

Almost cried

Mana said he almost cried when that happened — it was the first time throughout his career that a victim he performed CPR on was successfully revived.

He added that during that period, he could hear the other elephants calling out for the baby.

"It’s my instinct to save lives, but I was worried the whole time because I can hear the mother and other elephants calling for the baby."

Once the elephant was conscious, it was loaded onto a truck and taken to another location for treatment, before being returned to the accident site.

The baby elephant was eventually reunited with its family when they heard it calling out to them.

Thankfully, the motorcyclist involved in the accident did not sustain serious injuries as well.

You can watch the full video here.

Elephants in Thailand

Elephants crossing roads are not uncommon in rural areas of countries like Thailand.

These creatures typically walk long distances to forage for food.

However, over the last 60 years, Thailand has lost about 60 per cent of its forests, reducing the amount of space for elephants to forage.

This sometimes leads to human-wildlife conflicts as elephants forage on crops grown for human consumption, such as banana, sugarcane and rice, according to World Wildlife Fund.

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Top photo from iamKohChang.com / FB