Adrenaline rush 30,000 feet in the air

Before I even GET to my Olympics recap, I have to describe to you the craziest flight I have ever been on.  EVER. 

You see, there’s a reason I don’t have many food pictures from my 5 hour flight, and it has to do with this simple phrase:

“Is there anyone on the plane in the medical field?”

[Insert profanity here]  The good news (for them)?  I was on board.  The bad news (for me)?  I was on board. 

At first, when I heard the flight attendants call for help, I got a rush of adrenaline, but the feeling that quickly followed was more of a stomach drop.  The passenger was visibly suffering, couldn’t seem to get enough air with each breath and even after slapping oxygen on him, didn’t show signs of relief.  In the back of my head I knew that there were minimal options in treatment.  I mean we were up in the clouds with little else on board aside from millions of peanuts.  Not the ideal setting for nursing.  Fortunately, the flight attendants procured a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff and I was able to have a listen to his lungs and heart and get a set of vitals.  I’ll gloss over the nursing mumbo jumbo…but after an hour or so, he was looking a bit more stable so I headed to the back of the plane to talk to the doctor they had patched through to the plane.  They were trying to decide whether or not they should do an emergency landing to get him to the hospital. 

“The nurse is on the line now, over.”  “Roger that.”     I felt like I was an air force nurse….only I kept forgetting to say over, so then I would click back in just to say “over.”  I’m sure they are still laughing about how ridiculous it sounded. 

Anyways, the story gets better…Because they were having issues with the mics in the back of the plane, the pilots asked me to go in the cockpit.  How many people have been in a cockpit post-911 while flying?  None.  And then I came along…it was crazy.  They had to guard the door while I entered and then again (30 minutes later) once I exited.  HOLY CONTROL PANEL!!  It was dark and there were buttons and lights and gadgets galore.  I was so scuuurred I was thinking please ignore me, please ignore me the entire time.  I’m sure they know what they are doing up there, but the last thing I wanted was to shift their focus from flying to helping me with the friggin’ mic.  Finally I got patched through to the MD on ground and I told him about the passenger and what we had done so far and what the person’s current status was.  He agreed to continue to monitor closely and upon landing they would have EMTs waiting.  Awesome.  This was what I suspected he would say, so I was relieved to go back to my seat. 

I’m always looking for ways to pass the time on cross country flights, but this is one I don’t think I will be trying again anytime soon. 

The flight attendants and other passengers were so sweet, and really made me feel proud that I could step up, so it was kinda neat.  At the same time, I was pretty nervous throughout the ordeal, but knew that everyone was watching me.  Accordingly, playing it cool was important not just to keep me in the zone, but also to keep the rest of the people on the plane out of the panic zone.  Fear is a funny thing.  It can be helpful in small doses, but once it gets overwhelming, it is beyond detrimental. 

With an hour left until we arrived on the East Coast, I THOUGHT I was home free…  Not so much. 

Next thing I know, they are running to get me again for a different passenger!    Geez.  It’s like the flight was cursed!?  This second person lost consciousness and hit his head on the bathroom door on his way down.  He came back pretty quickly, but naturally I did an assessment just to make sure there weren’t bigger issues at play.  When all was said and done, it was time to begin our descent, and I was able to pass off responsibility to the EMTs.  Both were breathing with pulses at the end of the flight, so mission accomplished I suppose.

Talk about working on my day off!  The airline did reward me for my help, and I will admit, the flight went by far quicker than it usually does, so there were a few perks in exchange for the bullets I was sweating for hours while 30,000 feet in the air.  I have only a fraction of my eats on film because I wasn’t as incognito as I usually am, and busting out my camera mid-flight wasn’t an option.

Half of this was left over from my first flight’s snackies.  Kyle made fun of me saying it looked like I was preparing for a famine, but the joke was on him when he wanted in on my treats.  Of course I shared.  I also had a few apples, bars, and a sandwich, which barely made it to the first layover.  Then we hit up Qdoba for a burrito bowl salad with the works (black beans and guac up the yin yang). 

We landed just after 11, and thanks to the most brilliant eavesdropping, we were able to share a taxi into Manhattan, this avoiding the complete nightmare that is NJ Transit. 

Sorry for the picture-deficient post.  I promise the next will include Olympic highlights, a Vancouver restaurant review, and BIG NEWS!!!  Stay tuned…

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