Ever wondered what would happen if you or your fellow passenger gets a heart attack 35,000 feet in the air? And if there is no doctor available at the moment. Well, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, popularly known as CPR is a lifesaving tool that everyone should know.
A similar incident happened when a woman in her twenties suffered a cardiac arrest while flying to Phoenix on Saturday. To her luck, there was a cardiologist on board.
A series of tweets by doctor Kashif N Chaudhry described the incident and how he and his wife along with another cardiologist managed to save her.
The doctor in his tweets emphasizes the importance of learning CPR. “I reflexly ran to her seat. She was unresponsive, slumped over, eyes rolled back. I checked her carotid and radial pulses, she had none. We carried her onto the aisle and started CPR immediately,” he said.
While Dr Chaudhry performed the CPR, the other cardiologist brought an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from the plane’s first kit and applied it on the patient while Naila (Dr Chaudhary’s wife) gathered relevant medical history from the woman’s friends accompanying her. They immediately updated the medical team on the ground.
Dr Chaudhry said that they were relieved when after 90 seconds the woman’s pulse started responding and in 10 minutes she was able to get up and sit on her seat.
The plane was then directed to the nearest airport and she received medical treatment.
“Very grateful to God for the good outcome, for the professionals who helped, and the flight crew for their assistance,” he tweeted.
The doctor then stressed the importance of learning CPR in his tweet. “Please learn CPR. You could be in a position to potentially save someone’s life someday, and they are likely going to be a loved one,” he said.
Kashif N Chaudhry works as a director of cardiac electrophysiology at The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).
His tweets received positive responses where Twitter users congratulated the doctor. A user also narrated an incident from his personal experience where the swift action of doctors helped save an infant’s life.
