True Stories #171 - A Heart Attack in the Sky

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
I'm Seth Andrews, and what you'reabout to hear is a true story.
January two thousand four, sixty sevenyear old Dorothy Fletcher experienced her worst nightmare.

(00:22):
Dorothy was on a transatlantic flight fromManchester to Florida, traveling with her
daughter to attend her daughter's wedding inthe United States when during that flight she
had a heart attack, and asif reciting a line from a movie,
a flight attendant went on the intercomand asked the question, is there a

(00:45):
doctor on the plane? Man?That's scary and I can't help but think
about the beloved actress and author CarrieFisher, best known as Princess Leia.
She was on a commercial flight fromLondon to la Back in December of twenty
sixteen. She had a heart attackin the plane stopped breathing. They were

(01:07):
able to emergency land within fifteen minutesas a nearby passenger performed CPR, but
it wasn't enough. Paramedics boarded tofind her unresponsive, and after four days
on a ventilator, Carrie Fisher diedat the age of sixty. Interestingly,
the question is there a doctor onboard? Usually is not an indicator that

(01:33):
a situation as life and death.Airlines have protocols for medical issues in the
sky, and asking for a doctorpassenger actually makes a whole lot of sense.
If you're on a flight with twohundred people, there's a good chance
somebody will have medical training, andin the case that there is nobody qualified

(01:56):
on board, many airlines have directlinks to medical service providers via satellite phones
to get quick advice and instructions.The FAA requires medical kits on every commercial
flight. The crew has the kits, they get the info, they make
an assessment, they update the captain, and the captain decides whether to continue

(02:20):
on or to divert. And ofcourse that decision involves a lot of factors.
What is the closest airport, doesthat airport have a suitable runway for
the size and weights of that particularplane. What are the medical resources at
the landing spot? And this maysound a bit harsh, but it's true

(02:42):
that flight diversions are really expensive.Emirates Airlines has said publicly that a single
flight diversion can cost anywhere from fiftythousand to over half a million dollars depending
on the situation. Here, wehave to give props to those heroes and

(03:02):
humanitarians in the sky. In Septemberof twenty twenty two, Spirit Airlines was
on route from Pittsburgh to Orlando.There was a baby on board and the
baby stopped breathing. A retired nursewas there. She raced to action and
revived the three year old child.There was a physician passenger. Her name

(03:27):
was doctor dry A Gillespie. Shewas on route with her husband from Las
Vegas to Boston when a man inhis thirties had a grand mal seizure right
there in his chair, unconscious withviolent muscle contractions. Seeing the situation,
this doctor and three others jumped toaction. They nursed that man with IV

(03:50):
fluids until his seizures waned and theplane could land. She talked about that
day with stant News and remarked abouthow many of the passengers had actually gotten
irritated. You see that sick manwho was lying in the aisle. He
had prevented beverage service for the flightsa priorities. And of course we can't

(04:18):
forget about Dorothy Fletcher, that seniorcitizen traveling with her daughter to attend her
daughter's wedding. Back in January oftwo thousand and four, her chest had
seized up. She could not breathe. She panicked. The flight crew kicked
into action and immediately made that callon the intercom, is there a doctor

(04:42):
on board? And Dorothy did yetmedical attention right there. She did survive
until the landing. She spent twodays at Charlotte Medical Center, and she
was released in time to attend herdaughter's wedding. And here's the best part
of this story. Dorothy's very unluckyday was also her very lucky day because

(05:13):
when that flight crew had requested adoctor to treat her heart attack, that
flight was full of physicians who wereheading to a conference for cardiologists. And
that is a true story. TrueStories podcast dot com