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The other night we were finishing our last flight of a four-day trip. It had been a long four days with weather and delays but we landed in Little Rock and we were turning the airplane as fast as we could. It was time to go home! Of course, I had a two-hour drive home once I got to Denver, but first things first.

We were a full flight and we had a jumpseater as well. Due to weight-and-balance issues, we had to carry about 500 lbs. of ballast to take the jumpseater but we worked it out. I never like leaving another pilot behind.

Finally we were airborne and on our way. Then, about halfway through the flight it happened…

We were somewhere near Tulsa when the flight attendant calls up and by the sound of her voice something wasn’t right. This wasn’t a call to find out if we needed another coffee.

She begins by stating that we might have a medical emergency.

I say, “OK, what’s going on?”

She tells me that while she was doing her service a woman stood up and basically fainted. She hit her head on the overhead bin and was now seated in her galley.

I put my headset back on, turned off my hot mic, and started asking questions?

What is her state right now? Is she conscious? Is she bleeding? Does she know where she is?

Then I asked if she had asked the passengers if there was a doctor on board. She hadn’t so I gave her some duties.

1. Find out if there is a doctor on board

2. Find out the woman’s name, age, seat, medications she may be on, and a brief medical history

3. Call me back.

Basically I wanted to keep her busy, empower her, and have her focused on something. And I told her that I wanted her to call me back because  if I didn’t say it, she may not. It is important to communicate exactly what you want people to do when there is an emergency. It gives them guidance otherwise they may just stand there with the deer-in-the-headlights stare.

I then hung up and explained the situation to my first officer and the jumpseater. It’s good crew resource management (CRM) to keep everyone in the loop and get ideas and suggestions.

I then notified air traffic control (ATC) about the situation and our diversion intentions if we should have to divert. I’m thinking that if we are going to have to divert we might as well start planning for it. The first officer took this one. He started checking the weather at a few airports along our route that we could go to.

About this time, the flight attendant called me back. There was a doctor on board and he said that she was dehydrated and that he would recommend that we continue to Denver.

That was good news but the work wasn’t over.

You don’t pass out, bump your head, and lie down in the galley and get to go on your merry way.

We coordinated with our dispatcher who in turn coordinated with operations in Denver. Even though the lady said she was fine, she was going to be looked at by the paramedics when we got to Denver.

Once everything was in order, I had the flight attendant move the lady up to the first row and had the flight attendant explain that she would have to see the paramedics once we landed in Denver. She wasn’t happy but too bad.

Next, I explained to the passengers that we would delay deplaning until the lady had been attended to. I found out later that whatever I said must have worked because even though we were late, most of the passengers were fine with my explanation.

Upon landing, a paramedic came on the plane and escorted the lady to his cart. He was also very happy the lady was in the first row. That made it really easy for him to get to her.

Then that was it. Everyone went there own way and I hope everyone made it to their flights.

There are a couple things to take away from this experience.

First, a medical emergency is basically the same as a mechanical emergency. You have to keep things slow and work the problem. It helps have a few experiences to work from because every time you experience something like this, your knowledge base grows. I like to use the saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know, but experiences will help you learn them.”

Second, they can happen at any time so you need to have a plan. We practice for V1 cuts and hydraulic failures but we never really practice for medical emergencies. As a crew member, you need to have a plan in your head for what you are going to do if something happens. It sure makes accomplishing these tasks a lot easier.

Finally, keep crew members, ATC, and especially the passengers in the loop. Check in often and be patient. A medical emergency is something that needs to be worked just like a mechanical problem.

So I hope that helps. If nothing else, it got you to think about what you might do if something goes wrong and how you would handle it. I try to share these experiences with other crew members so they learn from it but I also always want to hear about their experiences so that I can learn from them as well.

To Your Flying Success,

Jeffrey