Is There A Doctor On Board?
I was coming into land at Dulles (Washington DC), and the guy in the opposite aisle starts groaning really loudly. Immediately I turn to look, and he’s not just groaning – he’s wailing, his body is convulsing, and he’s smashing his head into the chair directly in front of him. The passenger next to him is terrified.
Now, I’m a medical journalist, pharmacy grad, and I’ve done a load of first aid courses, so I know what’s going on here. Someone starts yelling for someone to stick something in his mouth – and that’s the worst thing you can do if someone is having a seizure.
Instead, as horrible as it sounds, the best thing to do is let the seizure go. So, I yell “NO!” at that, to make it clear, then calmly get someone to signal for the flight attendant, and ask if there’s something soft to use to cushion him.
Now, this is a bit of a strange situation because the guy having the seizure is already restrained by the seatbelt – it’s scary. So the best thing to do was use this oversized teddy bear someone had (it was Valentine’s Day) to cushion the guy’s head, and get that in place.
The stewardess is trying to help, dropping off a medkit, and puts a call out for a nurse or doctor.
So there’s me, the stewardess, and a nurse, unbuckled, coming in on a priority emergency landing at Dulles, the plane is at a crazy landing angle, and I’m straddling the aisle trying to stop this guy from hurting his head with a giant teddy bear.
As soon as the nurse arrived I stopped, because her expertise trumped my very basic skills. The guy was OK – bewildered and covered in fluids, but the EMTs got him off.
Anyway, all of that meant I was late for my flight to the UK. So I ended up having to sprint the entire length of Dulles’ terminal (and it’s a LOOOOONG terminal) to make the flight. I did it with five minutes to go, covered in sweat and exhausted.
I couldn’t sleep on the flight home after that. It was about midnight EST when it was all done, and I was sweaty from the run, and a little shocked by what the heck I’d just been involved in. Story credit: Reddit / (mrcchapman)