Gettin’ Carried Away

It was like a movie…

Earlier this afternoon, about half way through my flight home from Denver to Chicago, I heard an attendant come over the PA system saying, “Is there a medical type person… uh… a doctor or nurse or someone… on board the flight? If so, please ring your call button and we’ll come to you.”

I could tell that the flight attendant sounded a bit nervous. A passenger seated about 10 rows behind me needed immediate medical attention, apparently. To my surprise, a few people buzzed their call buttons. The entire flight crew responded to the distress calmly and efficiently. I later saw that man was given oxygen and an IV (pictured below).

After we landed, we were all asked to stay seated once we arrived at the gate, as there was an emergency on board, and medical personnel would be entering the plane once it stopped. Sure enough, a fire truck and an ambulance were waiting for us as we taxied into the gate, and five people came on board right away.

The man was escorted off the plane by the sweet woman who stepped up and administered some mild treatments while we were in the air. As she made her way back to her seat, everyone gave her a big round of applause. I admit, the journalist in me wanted to interview the flight crew once we de-planed, but my kind heart ached for the man and kept me from poking my nose into his business. He was probably embarking on a great vacation or returning home from a business trip or visiting old friends or reconnecting with family. All he wanted to do was get to Chicago, not the hospital. So instead… I blog.

Props to the Southwest Airlines crew of flight 779 DEN to MDW. They never panicked and they handled the situation with the utmost poise and urgency.