Russell Simon
March 2016
Russell
Simon
,
FNP
Surgery
Desert Regional Medical Center
Palm Springs
,
CA
United States
Commendation from Asiana Airlines:
"On behalf of Asiana Airlines and the crew, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your assistance onboard the flight. We are grateful that you were so generous in sharing your personal time, compassion and expertise with another passenger. We sincerely appreciate the efforts made by medical professionals like you who volunteer to render aid when there is an unexpected emergency onboard."
Story from Russ:
"After dinner was served, passengers were winding down, when the cabin crew overhead paged for any healthcare personnel on board to please come forward as they are needing assistance with another passenger immediately. I got up immediately and approached another cabin crew to direct me to the area where a healthcare provider is needed. An older adult was lethargic, pale, with very weak pulse, 30bpm, on the floor. Other passengers were just simply rubbing the patient's extremities and fanning her. I immediately asked her name but she was only mumbling in a language I did not understand. I assessed her for any medical condition (via another passenger that could translate for me) but medical issues were negative. I directed the crew to get me a glucometer (which they do not have on board) and get an orange juice, blood pressure was taken (which was very low for her group age), oxygen given, AED made available, emergency (meds) kit, IV kit while I loosened her clothing to anticipate CPR. The crew were very cooperative and fast. It was a little bit of a one man show with multiple go-fers. Then, she became unresponsive. I did one cycle of CPR and she came back to life. I started the IV immediately; saline of 250ml was the only one they had available on board. After what felt like infinite minutes spent reviving a patient, a doctor finally showed up. He reassessed the patient and by then she was VS stable, patient pink, talking clearly in her language and nodding. (Imagine me reading chinese/korean characters of medications, the English translations were written very small).
We were 2 hours away from any land, between Korea and Manila. I and the doctor monitored her for another 30 minutes until she said "I'm okay" in her language then we instructed the cabin crew and the passenger to go to the closest hospital as soon as we land Manila for further evaluation."
"On behalf of Asiana Airlines and the crew, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your assistance onboard the flight. We are grateful that you were so generous in sharing your personal time, compassion and expertise with another passenger. We sincerely appreciate the efforts made by medical professionals like you who volunteer to render aid when there is an unexpected emergency onboard."
Story from Russ:
"After dinner was served, passengers were winding down, when the cabin crew overhead paged for any healthcare personnel on board to please come forward as they are needing assistance with another passenger immediately. I got up immediately and approached another cabin crew to direct me to the area where a healthcare provider is needed. An older adult was lethargic, pale, with very weak pulse, 30bpm, on the floor. Other passengers were just simply rubbing the patient's extremities and fanning her. I immediately asked her name but she was only mumbling in a language I did not understand. I assessed her for any medical condition (via another passenger that could translate for me) but medical issues were negative. I directed the crew to get me a glucometer (which they do not have on board) and get an orange juice, blood pressure was taken (which was very low for her group age), oxygen given, AED made available, emergency (meds) kit, IV kit while I loosened her clothing to anticipate CPR. The crew were very cooperative and fast. It was a little bit of a one man show with multiple go-fers. Then, she became unresponsive. I did one cycle of CPR and she came back to life. I started the IV immediately; saline of 250ml was the only one they had available on board. After what felt like infinite minutes spent reviving a patient, a doctor finally showed up. He reassessed the patient and by then she was VS stable, patient pink, talking clearly in her language and nodding. (Imagine me reading chinese/korean characters of medications, the English translations were written very small).
We were 2 hours away from any land, between Korea and Manila. I and the doctor monitored her for another 30 minutes until she said "I'm okay" in her language then we instructed the cabin crew and the passenger to go to the closest hospital as soon as we land Manila for further evaluation."