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…
wow that is so exciting! and nerve-wracking im sure! but very lucky you were there to help, that is very cool to be able to say you did that!
Wow! That is pretty crazy! So fabulous for you to have stepped up to that. They were pretty lucky to have you on board!
WOW. What a remarkable story, you’re such a life saver (literally). Hmm, I wonder what flavor you’d be… hah.
Hope youre having a good day,
bec xo
Craaaaazy! You are just like Jack on LOST when he saved Charlie! 🙂
good job girl!
i got chills! you are truly a hero… i’m so inspired by you!!
Wow! These things only happen on TV, or so you’d think! Well done, be proud and don’t feel stupid for forgetting to say “over” you’re not a pilot after all. 😉
dang girl! 2 passengers in one flight – they must have known you would be able to handle it.
that is so awesome!! and so are you of course!! how did the airline reward you at the end?
oh my gosh twin! i am soooo proud of you!!!! what a crazy flight. those people were so lucky to have you on board! reading your post made my otherwise not so wonderful morning much better 🙂 PS- inhaled nearly an entire gigantic sweet potato on sun and thought of you- big yum. xoxo
Wow good for you for stepping up! Awesome!
HA my husband also thinks I am crazy because I always have a variety of snacks on hand, and then he always ends up wanting some and is happy I have choices (sweet? savory? salty? take your pick).
You are such a frickin rockstar!!! That is DEFINITELY a time-waster, but a stressful one at that!! You were clearly MEANT to be on that flight girl–such a life-saver 🙂 You should treat yourself to some mayjuhh WF’s shopping or hot-bar deliciousness for all that hard work! 😉
And this is SO besides the point….but yogurt covered pretzels sounds soooooooo good right now.
**sound
What! That is freaking insane… Props to you for not totally losing it (what i would have done) and keeping your cool which in turn kept the cool of a plane full of people! I probably would have made a complete idiot out of myself if i was invited into the cockpit… Picturing you clicking in again to say over is hilarious! I’m thinking you should change your site to flyinghippienurse… 🙂 Can’t wait to read how your Olympic adventure went!
that is soooo cool!! i would have totally felt like superwoman or something!!!
Wow, how lucky that you were there!
Great job stepping up! I admire people like you. I would be freaking out.
Oh my god you are incredible! You are so amazingly awesome! Rockstar award of the month or year or something like that! 😀
one word…ROCKSTAR! ’nuff said rubia. =D
That’s so incredible that you were able AND willing to step up like that. I hope you realize how amazing a person you are and how gracefully you handled it all!
Nicole G
WOW!! You are amazing! Can’t wait to hear the big news.
My hero! You’re such a rockstar.
Thank heavens you were on that flight and could assist those passengers!! I’ve been so fortunate to always have fairly uneventful flights (except turbulence, of course) and I can’t even imagine how much your calm attitude helped to keep everyone else under control.
Woah. That sounds so intense. It’s extremely lucky you were on board!
Ahhh!! SO INTENSE!!! You’s a boss, ma! I can’t even imagine the pressure. I also think it’s kind of amazing that you happened to be on the flight that needed you. Coincidence? I think not.
I am dying to hear the big news. I NEEEED to know.
WOW!
It must have been quite an experience!
I´m sure all passengers were glad you were at the plane 🙂
Congratulations!
Have a great Tuesday.
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
Wow so crazy! Good for you for volunteering! I would have been freaked out too. I’m glad they were okay in the end!
At first I wasn’t going to click on your post link [from twitter] because I did not want to read about a crazy plane experience…thinking that something bad happened with the plane. I’m not the biggest fan of flying! However, I clicked anyways and read it all…wow!! That is one amazing story you will be telling your whole life…way to stay calm and try to act cool, haha..”over!” I think you deserve a drink!
That sounds hellah intense!!!! You did an awesome job- were the people okay? Guess they can’t tell you much, but seriously, you ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good for you! I would have freaked. Definitely a story to tell!
YOU! Are a stud. End of discussion.
Wow, that is so admirable! I wouldn’t mind having you on all my flights 😉
bah can I get your auty?! you’re such a hero little miss!
Whoa! What an experience! Hey, that’s definitely a “dear diary” moment if i ever saw one! AWESOME!
Yikes! What a story. Hungry, hungry HEROINE, you are.
I haven’t quite mastered the undercover photography skills yet either–it’s almost impossible on airplanes!
Great job on all of your hard work, you Good Samaritan you!
OMG–you rock! Those people were lucky to have you on board 🙂
Courtney
hahah awesome! did you ever for a second just hope that someone else would chime in first when they asked the question? I secretly fantasize about helping someone in a situation like this…total loser, I know. You rock, sistah! they should give you a free flight or something
So do you know what happened to the first guy? do you think he threw a clot maybe? probably would have been worse though…did they have a portable O2 sat?
Way to step up girl! Roger that. Over.
wow talk about a plane trip! that is wild.. good JOB!!
$$ on my next flight with them 🙂
thats my girl. im cooking sweet taters as i type this 🙂
sadly, its not what you think it is 🙁 hopefully that news will follow soon though, haha
yeah, the people were ok, but i wish i could have followed up on them to see what was wrong because honestly i am kinda stumped. where’s House MD?!?
haha, kinda, but then, i also knew i would likely be the most qualified since you cant ask for much more than a cardiac icu. there was a psychiatrist who came forward a bit later, but she was like “its been ages since i did anything remotely clinical” soooo yeah…me or nobody…
oh and no, i still am fairly stumped as to what was wrong with the first guy. id kill to see a chest x-ray of his lungs though…i dont think it was a clot/PE, he had good breath sounds and the O2 didnt make much of a difference in his ability to breathe. they didnt have anything to measure the pleth. it was a very confusing case.
You sound like Super Woman, girl! Way to go! Good thing that you were there to save the day. I know it was exhausting, though. But, what a great deed. You should feel proud. 🙂
YOU ARE SUCH A FREAKIN HERO! I can only imagine if I had been on that plane, I would be looking at you with amazement. You have so much knowledge and calmness at such a young age, it is incredibly impressive. what a memory.
may I inquire into what the “reward” was? you deserve something great
You are a HERO! This is such an awesome story! I am having Matthew read it. I feel so proud of you, and all I did was read it! Those people were so lucky to have you on that flight! <3
I am SO PROUD OF YOU! Wow, Elise, this is incredible. What a great feeling it must be to help people 🙂
ARE YOU PREGGERS??????????? Shotgun wedding!!!!!!!!! 🙂
hahaha…definitely not.
HOLY EFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF this is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
holy crap you’re a hero and WHY did i not see you on tv for this. you should have been on tv for this.
…p.s. whats the newse?!?
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