Emergency Landing on Flight Last Night

shadow_boxer · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:26

So last night our flight from Dubrovnik to Frankfurt had to make an emergency landing in Venice due to a poorly passenger. Now my wife and I are medically trained so when they asked we volunteered to help which was a little nerve wracking. Although we are relatively frequent flyers we've never encountered a true medical emergency on board. We were joined by another couple of junior doctors from the UK and we had an elderly lady vomiting large amounts of blood. After our initial assessment we decided this was potentially life threatening so asked the crew to land ASAP. The Lufthansa team on board were excellent, so calm and controlled and kept us informed at all times. Also I never knew there was so much medical equipment on board the aircraft for such a short flight so it was a relief when we were able to get intravenous access at 38,000 feet and get some fluids into her when this ladies blood pressure was so low. At one point we thought she would likely go into cardiac arrest whilst still in the air so it was such a relief to get her onto the ground and hand over to the medics there. To be honest even once we landed I didn't even know what country we were in until we were ready to go again!

Just thought I'd share this and was wondering if anyone else has had situations like this on board and had to divert? I know this costs the airlines huge amounts of money so I think it's something the crew wouldn't take lightly and tbh it was a huge relief when they agreed to land.

Jamesyboyjim · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:29

Pat yourself on the back mate, sounds as though you helped save her life

Diddums · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:32

Well done, something to be proud of

scorza · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:35

Nice one. Some questions though, while you were treating her was she in her seat, on the floor. Presumably she had to sit up in her seat for the landing or was there another alternative?

After your plane had landed did it taxi to a gate in the normal way or something else?

Once the Italian emergency services had taken over did any of you go with her to hospital?

How long were you on the ground for in Venice?

adolf hamster · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:41

Came in expecting a traditional "there was a slight breeze so we had to waste x hours diverting" whinge thread.

Came out with a bit of faith in humanity restored, good job op on stopping a potentially lethal situation.

EGuitarStar · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:45

Well done to you all.

joeyjojo · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:48

scorza said:
Nice one. Some questions though, while you were treating her was she in her seat, on the floor. Presumably she had to sit up in her seat for the landing or was there another alternative?

Wondering this too. Sounds like they took her to the onboard surgery from the OP.

Derek W · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:56

Sounds like she had the fish as her in flight meal.

Arazi · 31 Oct 2016 at 13:59

Excellent OP and a feel good feeling to it

Usher · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:01

Most likely a burst stomach ulcer ?

Firestar_3x · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:03

Well done OP, back in 2008 on the way back from the US someone on-board had a heart attack, we diverted to Newfoundland, no idea if he lived or not.

MookJong · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:17

Well done OP, hope the lady is recovering well.

Never been in that kind of situation but I guess with an aging affluent population this is likely to become a lot more common occurrence.

Brizzles · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:22

Well done OP

Werewolf · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:25

Well done, hopefully the lady is doing well.

Re the medical equipment I suspect big carriers will have the same loadout on all the aircraft (as they might be doing short runs one day and a longer one another), but it's good to know they carry that sort of stuff

Minstadave · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:26

Diverted a long haul flight because of a lady repeatedlt losing consciousness last year. Had to have a right go at the pilot because the ground medic they were in communication with wanted us to continue flying for another 7 hours.

Whole episode was a comedy of errors, air steward didn't want help as he was determined he knew what he was doing, then panicked when he got out of his depth. Crew wouldn't provide the medical kit at first because they didn't think it necessary, then someone was using it already on a child (I'm a paediatrician so offered to sort that too). Argued with the pilot to land. Total moron of a Turkish Doctor telling me the unconscious lady was having a panic attack whilst his much more sensible nurse was shouting at him to take her off the plane.

Nice upgrade to business class though and the Pilot gave me his personal details and a thank you letter once he realised she really was quite unwell.

Cost the airline a small fortune but couldn't care less tbh.

Cosimo · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:31

A big well done to you and your helping "crew".

shadow_boxer · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:34

Thanks chaps, it was all a bit surreal and things just happened so quickly. Though we've never been in this situation before we've have discussed it, often quite lightheartedly as to what we would do if we were ever in this scenario. We know it's the right thing to do to offer to help but then you often doubt yourself and start to think about the whole litigation side of things, tiredness (especially yesterday after a long day of travelling) etc but this was a fairly clear cut medical emergency so we really had no choice.

scorza said:
Nice one. Some questions though, while you were treating her was she in her seat, on the floor. Presumably she had to sit up in her seat for the landing or was there another alternative?

After your plane had landed did it taxi to a gate in the normal way or something else?

Once the Italian emergency services had taken over did any of you go with her to hospital?

How long were you on the ground for in Venice?

We initially did basic assessment in her seat. Initially she was conciousness then started to drift in and out, she had a very weak pulse and low blood pressure so decided to move her to the back of the aircaft (A319-100) where there is a more room. We had to get her flat with legs elevated and then continued with assessing here and getting in IV access and fluids.

The crew ideally wanted her in her seat for landing but we kind of overruled that and said she needs to be flat. So two of us sat down in our seats just before landing whilst two stayed at the back with her and sat in the two flight attendant seats there). She remained on the floor for landing.

We must have been diverted and guided straight into Venice for landing. We certainly didn't waste anytime circling or burning fuel it seemed.

This the link to the flight tracker.

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/DLH1417/history/20161030/1715Z/LDDU/LIPZ

As you can see we were only at our cruise altitude for a matter of minutes and had landed in around 30 mins I think. Taxi to the gate also was incredibly fast it seemed. Appear to roll off the runway very quickly and to the gate too where there was a doctor and paramedics waiting.

No, none of us went with here. Handed over to paramedics and the doctor there. Total time on the ground was probably about 20-30 mins. Not long and we made it to our connecting flight too!

booyaka · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:34

Well done OP.

Last year flying to a cycling holiday in Majorca someone was unwell on the flight - I think it was more of a panic attack/possible epileptic fit than anything but it was only about 30 minutes from landing. So with her family and crew taking care of her it was ok.

Apart from about 15 people who basically sat for the next 30 minutes with their neck craned round watching the poor woman like some kind of carcrash etc. I felt like tell them so stop staring etc. It was ridiculous - like rubbernecking the other side of the road in a car crash etc.

scorza · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:38

shadow_boxer said:
We initially did basic assessment in her seat. Initially she was conciousness then started to drift in and out, she had a very weak pulse and low blood pressure so decided to move her to the back of the aircaft (A319-100) where there is a more room. We had to get her flat with legs elevated and then continued with assessing here and getting in IV access and fluids.

The crew ideally wanted her in her seat for landing but we kind of overruled that and said she needs to be flat. So two of us sat down in our seats just before landing whilst two stayed at the back with her and sat in the two flight attendant seats there). She remained on the floor for landing.

We must have been diverted and guided straight into Venice for landing. We certainly didn't waste anytime circling or burning fuel it seemed.

This the link to the flight tracker.

https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/DLH1417/history/20161030/1715Z/LDDU/LIPZ

As you can see we were only at our cruise altitude for a matter of minutes and had landed in around 30 mins I think. Taxi to the gate also was incredibly fast it seemed. Appear to roll off the runway very quickly and to the gate too where there was a doctor and paramedics waiting.

No, none of us went with here. Handed over to paramedics and the doctor there. Total time on the ground was probably about 20-30 mins. Not long and we made it to our connecting flight too!

Thanks, this might sound odd but as a nervous flyer I appreciate the extra info

wedrum · 31 Oct 2016 at 14:39

Well done, something to be proud of