Has anyone else ever been on an airplane when this panicked announcement has been made overhead?
I was on a 2-hour flight last night when this happened to me. I looked around for about 30 seconds and didn't see anyone do anything - there were only about 100 people on board - so I got up and identified myself. Now, I'm a NICU nurse, and I told the flight attendent that right off the bat. She asked if I felt comfortable checking out a passenger that was having chest pains. Now, I don't have my own nursing insurance (matter of preference) but I do believe that the Good Samaritan law protects nurses in this kind of a situation, so I agreed.
He was a slightly overweight businessman who had some serious chicken and egg allergies as a child. He had eaten at a fast-food restaurant in the airport and was eating a nut snack mix (minus peanuts) on the plane. He had sudden chest pain and shortness of breath. I found him to have a strong, even pulse of 80 BPM, resps 20 per minute and shallow, diaphoretic, pale pink, rated his pain as a 6-7, breathing with no audible wheezing upon inhalation or exhalation, denied any heart or GI problems. I told the flight attendent that I didn't know what else to do, but asked if they had an AED on board just in case. She said yes, and oxygen as well. Luckily we never needed that! I suggested that it was possibly indigestion, reflux, an ulcer, or an allergic reaction. She asked me to come up and sit by him (he was in first class) and I did. I sat next to him, checked his pulse a few more times, and talked him through it. After about 20 minutes, he suddenly said, "Wow, I'm suddenly feeling a lot better." and he started breathing deeper and slower. I suggested some ginger ale to settle his stomach and he did drink a bit. By the time we landed, he was talking, chewing gum, up to the bathroom, and seemed much better. The flight attendent asked if he wanted paramedics standing by at the gate and he declined.
His coworker was going to drive him home and promised to make sure his wife knew what happened. I suggested that he go to the ER to get checked out, but he said he didn't think it was necessary. I told him to at the very least call his doctor ASAP and touch base with him, because further examination was warrented. He agreed and said he would do that. After the flight landed, he thanked me for my help and left with his coworker.
Did I do anything I should or shouldn't have?
He did hear my name - I told him my first name and also the flight attendant came by with the manifest to ask my last name "in case they heard anything" and needed to contact me. I don't think I have to worry about legal action - the flight attendants were all there and knew what was going on, and I honestly didn't think we needed an emergency landing or anything like that. I still wished he'd have let paramedics check him out, but he refused when both the flight attendants and I asked.
Yes, I was referring to the original story about "Gompers" Incidentally, we don't even have MICU where I live, we simply have "ICU" for adult patients. I should point out that usually some help is better than none, the only exception is when people work outside their scope of practice or "guess" about what to do next. I have had many occasions in which care given made the patient worse. I don't want anyone to be scared by that, just cautious. One example was a patient seizing after being involved in an MVA. The nurse that arrived prior to the ambulance had taken the patient out of the nicely cushioned car and onto the concrete road! (probably thought the pt would be better lying flat) Any traumatic injury could involve the spine and this person was seizing which made for 2 reasons not to move them. Its best to hold their head in-line and re-assure the pt until a c-collar can be applied. (don't move them unless absolutely necessary, such as a burning car or if they need CPR) By the way, someone called me "she" and I am a "he" (no problem I didn't identify myself as one or the other) :)
First, I am still in the process of trying to get into the local PN program in January -- but I've been to first responder training, CPR cert, all that (I live in the boonies). Anyway, I'd flown home to Atlanta, visiting mom and dad for 4th of July several years ago, and there's a parade in the "downtown" area of our suburb. I'd just come from Mass, and there's traffic jammed everywhere, so figured I'd watch the parade, not that there was an option with the people and cars everywhere....hot, sunny day, high humidity.
Suddenly, this guy starts running thru the crowd, yelling for a doctor or a nurse. No one moves a muscle. The guy is frantic, yelling his mom needs help. I thought, well, dad usually has a first aid kit in the car, if it's just she slipped and needs a bandaid or something....so I go up tell him I've had first responder training, and ask what's going on, can I help?
I get dragged over to the poor lady, and the first thing I ask is if someone's called 911 (unknown ETA, the freakin' PARADE). She's 60-ish, in a lawn chair, and I take one look and think "oh, #*@&$!" She's grey, she's clawing at her chest, chest pain and feels like she can't get her breath, sweating, pulse is going so fast I can't even count it. No history of heart or pulm. probs, allergies. We were near a grocery store, so I send the son to get some ice to put on her neck (I think she's probably having a heart attack, but tell the son maybe she's just hot and we need to cool her down). While he's gone, I'm talking reassuringly to her, telling her help's on the way, let's just breathe calmly, in-two-three, out-two-three, it's probably just the heat, the ice will make her feel cooler, hoping the son will come back somewhat calmer since I'd given him something to do. My calm is further shattered when the lady proceeds to vomit. I'm thinking, heart? Heat? heart? please be heat...but I'm calm on the outside, promising myself that I will freak when this is over, and in private...
30 minutes later, the EMT's get there, and I wanted to kiss their feet. I try to give the most coherent report I can, and the EMT told me I'd done all I could without meds and without any equipment at all. It's kinda weird, (and I apologize for the length), but that experience is what led me to want to be a nurse. All I could think of was, how horrible it would have been to maybe watch someone die who didn't need to, if they'd just needed CPR, or a well timed heimlich, or some such. I hope the lady was okay, but I never found out...
That's so funny. I'm a nursing student and all my classmates are practically frothing at the mouth to be able to stop and help at an accident scene. I am not so eager. I'll wait for the chance to do it on the job and hopefully be better trained, thank you very much. I think it's interesting that most nurses I know aren't all that eager and would rather not have to participate if they don't have to. I explained this and my classmates thought that sounded mean. I just think when you've seen it so many times it's exhausting to think you have to deal with it everywhere and not just on the job. I realize most nurses are glad to help if there is no one else to do it, but are in no way eager to look for it the way my classmates are.
My first nursing instructor told us to NOT stop at accidents if the emergency people were there - she said they were trained to know what to do in those circumstances and we were not.
My first nursing instructor told us to NOT stop at accidents if the emergency people were there - she said they were trained to know what to do in those circumstances and we were not.
Unless you have EMS training or it is a big incident, that is pretty good advice. I find it really frustrating as a paramedic to have a nurse looking over my shoulder and offering advice that is either inappropriate based on my assessment or deviates from our protocols. If you would chose to stop, your best bet would be to find the person who is in command and ask where you can help...freelancing can get you into trouble, especially if no one knows who you are and why you are there. We do utilize nurses now and then on big scenes or if all of the other ALS providers are busy, but they have to follow our protocols and have to be trained on our equipment.
Specializes in SICU, EMS, Home Health, School Nursing.
I leave for Florida on Thursday so this topic caught my eye. When my sis and I were there in July of 2005 a woman had a seizure in the hotel lobby. I was still a nursing student at that time so I was trying to appear calm and collected but internally I was freaking out! I did remember what to do as far as move objects away from the patient, assess airway(one of the hotel workers was yelling, "quick, put a spoon in her mouth!" because she was afraid she'd swallow her tongue. We were taught in nursing school not to do that anymore) After the seizure ended, we put her in the recovery position while waiting for the paramedics to get there. Towards the end of the whole thing 2 women came over and said they were RNs- Boy, was I ever happy to see them! Now that I am a "real nurse" myself, I'm praying that I won't have to use any nursing skills on this trip!
I had a very similar thing happen to me when I was in nursing school too. Luckily my dad is a paramedic so I basically grew up around the fire dept. I knew that I had to stay calm and just think things through.
My situation was that we were at church and a friend of mines two year old fell, hit his head, and went into a grand-mal seizure. The mom began to panic and she grabbed him and was holding him as tight as she could. She kept trying to stick her finger in his mouth to stop him from swallowing his tongue (which we all know to never do!) I yelled for another friend of mine to call 911 and I went to try to get the 2 year old out of his mothers arms. What scared her the most was that he quit breathing for a few seconds during the seizure. I finally convinced her to lay him down on the ground and by this point the seizure was over so I got him into the recovery position. Within about 5 minutes the ambulance showed up and I tried to give them as much of a report as I could, they loaded him up immediately and took him to the ER because they were worried about possible head injury. After the squad left I stood there and realized that I was shaking like a leaf!
The little guy turned out to be fine. Turns out he has a history of seizures...
What really surprised me though was that it was me and another nursing student there and she completely froze. She didn't move or say a word during the entire ordeal, it was the teacher that actually called 911 for me.
romansten9
51 Posts
Yes, I was referring to the original story about "Gompers" Incidentally, we don't even have MICU where I live, we simply have "ICU" for adult patients. I should point out that usually some help is better than none, the only exception is when people work outside their scope of practice or "guess" about what to do next. I have had many occasions in which care given made the patient worse. I don't want anyone to be scared by that, just cautious. One example was a patient seizing after being involved in an MVA. The nurse that arrived prior to the ambulance had taken the patient out of the nicely cushioned car and onto the concrete road! (probably thought the pt would be better lying flat) Any traumatic injury could involve the spine and this person was seizing which made for 2 reasons not to move them. Its best to hold their head in-line and re-assure the pt until a c-collar can be applied. (don't move them unless absolutely necessary, such as a burning car or if they need CPR) By the way, someone called me "she" and I am a "he" (no problem I didn't identify myself as one or the other) :)