A doctor joined cabin crew in resuscitating a 50-year-old Australian woman who lost consciousness on a Vietnam Airlines flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 20.
The woman suddenly turned pale and passed out about 30 minutes after flight VN215 took off that afternoon.
Pham Thi Van Thanh, a former doctor at the endoscopy department of Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, was wearing headphones and did not notice until the chief flight attendant made an urgent call for medical help.
She rushed to the woman, who was not breathing, and joined the resuscitation alongside flight attendants who were already giving her chest compressions.
After three to five minutes, the woman began moving her hands and showed signs of vomiting. Thanh turned her onto her side to keep her from choking and asked passengers seated nearby to move to make room.
Her blood pressure was initially 80/50 mmHg. Worried she might have low blood sugar, Thanh, working with the crew, gave her about three to four cups of warm sugar water.
About 15 minutes later, her blood pressure rose to 100/60 mmHg, the color returned to her face and lips, and she was able to communicate.
She then lay down to rest and was monitored continuously for the rest of the flight to Tan Son Nhat International Airport.
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Dr. Pham Thi Van Thanh. Photo courtesy of Thanh |
Thanh initially feared the woman was having a heart attack. When the woman, more alert, said she had no chest pain, Thanh also considered other causes, including a possible stroke. However, what caused her to lose consciousness still needs in-depth assessment.
The woman had just spent 14 days touring Vietnam and was on her way home to Australia, transiting in Ho Chi Minh City. A Vietnam Airlines representative said she was not yet fit to fly and needed further monitoring.
"I dealt with critical emergency cases regularly at Cho Ray Hospital, so I wasn't too thrown by a situation on a plane," Thanh said.
Thanh has more than 20 years of experience in respiratory endoscopy and now serves as a medical adviser to several health facilities.
Chest compressions are part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), used to save someone who has stopped breathing or whose heart has stopped.