Here I am working a red eye flight, which seemingly is one of the easiest flights to work as everyone tends to sleep so we dim the lights and no-one ever seems to need too much. So, I'm sitting in the galley sipping coffee awaiting our 6am arrival, seems chill right? I'm staring down into the unlit aisle of the airplane just to keep an eye on any passenger call lights that may go off…. only to see a figure get up out of their seat, stand in the middle of the aisle, and collapse.
I wasn't sure if my eyes had tricked me at first as I had been up all night and was on, what will remain, a numberless count of cups of coffee. No matter the amount of training you go through to handle these situations, you never know how you will react until it happens.
A man rushes towards us shouting “she passed out, she passed out!”
My co worker hustled to help this lady. Ensuring she was breathing, grabbing a cold compress and water as she quickly regained consciousness. I’ll admit I froze for second in panic as this was the first medical emergency to come my way.
Fortunately, I had a crew who was quick to respond and I followed suit! We were able to get her back in her seat, hydrated, and back to normal.
Turns out, she had just gotten up to use the bathroom and stood up too quick. She had been traveling for some time including traveling overseas marking her third day of flying. She hadn't had a proper meal that day, hadn't drank any water that she could remember, and was mentally and physically exhausted… thus her fainting upon standing in the middle of the night.
This scenario is just a small glimpse into the many medical emergencies you may have on your flight. Even after all of the training it is tough to predict how you will react in these situations. In my case, I had a moment of panic not knowing what to do. I told myself I’ll never have that happen again. So you can see why it’s important to consistently study up on how to properly handle these situations… they are going to happen from time to time and you must be able to stay alert, be prepared, and think and act quickly.
I wanted to tell this story not to scare you, but as a reminder that your training never ends. You should always brush up on what you think you already know and luckily you will be surrounded by an incredible crew on every flight and will never be without the knowledge of what to do or how to act on it.
Nothing like a minor medical emergency at 30,000ft in the air to get your adrenaline rushing in the middle of the night. Layover time anyone?!