FLT ATTENDANT RPT; S80; SEA-ORD. MEDICAL EMER INFLT; DIVERT TO BILLINGS FOR HOSPITAL. ON GND; BILLINGS; MEDICAL EMER #2. BOTH PAX REMOVED.

1999-07 · NASA ASRS report 445110

Date: 1999-07 · Aircraft: MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: flight-deck-cabin-aircraft-event-illness-injury

Synopsis

FLT ATTENDANT RPT; S80; SEA-ORD. MEDICAL EMER INFLT; DIVERT TO BILLINGS FOR HOSPITAL. ON GND; BILLINGS; MEDICAL EMER #2. BOTH PAX REMOVED.

Narrative

I WAS WITH FLT ATTENDANT #4 IN FRONT OF MAIN CABIN BEGINNING A MEAL SVC; WHEN PAX'S WIFE SCREAMED FOR A FLT ATTENDANT. NEITHER FLT ATTENDANT #4 NOR #2 HEARD THE SCREAM; SINCE PAX WAS IN SEAT XXE; AND WIFE IN XXF AT REAR OF S80. PAX WAS RPTED BY NON REVENUE FLT ATTENDANT (ON TAILCONE JUMP SEAT) TO BE 'STIFF WITH EYES OPEN BUT UNRESPONSIVE.' 2 DOCTORS WERE SEATED 2 ROWS FORWARD AND WERE ASSISTING BY THE TIME FLT ATTENDANT RUSHED FORWARD FROM HER JUMP SEAT. SHE CAME TO FRONT OF CABIN AND ASKED FOR THE MEDICAL KIT; WHICH I GOT FROM FLT ATTENDANT #4 FOR THE DOCTORS TO TAKE VITAL SIGNS AND RELAYED INFO TO THE CAPT; SO FLT ATTENDANT #2 AND FLT ATTENDANT #4 COULD CONTINUE SVC. DOCTORS DID NOT ASK FOR THE AED. THEY USED ONLY THE BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR AND STETHOSCOPE; BUT DETERMINED AFTER MONITORING PAX FOR SOME TIME; AND BECAUSE OF HIS FAMILY AND MEDICAL HISTORY; THAT WE SHOULD LAND. DECISION WAS ULTIMATELY MADE BY CAPT; AFTER CONSULTATION WITH DOCTOR. WE WERE TOLD WE WOULD LAND IN BILLINGS IN 15 MINS. MEAL SVC WAS COMPLETED AND CARTS AND GALLEY SECURED. SAFETY CHKS WERE MADE. PARAMEDICS MET THE PLANE IN BILLINGS AND TOOK PAX OFF THROUGH TAILCONE EXIT AFTER EXAMINATION (ALONG WITH HIS WIFE AND 2 CHILDREN). (WIFE DID NOT RING THE PAX CALL LIGHT IN HER EXCITEMENT APPARENTLY; WHEN PAX BECAME ILL.) IT WAS FORTUNATE WE HAD THE NON REVENUE FLT ATTENDANT ON THE TAILCONE JUMP SEAT. IN EMERS WITH A FULL MAIN CABIN; THIS ILLUSTRATES THE BENEFIT OF HAVING 3 FLT ATTENDANTS; RATHER THAN 2; WORKING A FLT IN MAIN CABIN. (FLT ATTENDANT #3 WAS WORKING IN FIRST CLASS WITH FLT ATTENDANT #1; AT THE TIME AS NECESSARY.) SECOND MEDICAL EMER OCCURRED AFTER WE LANDED IN BILLINGS; AT THE GATE. A 17 YR OLD FEMALE BECAME ILL WITH NAUSEA; DIARRHEA AND STOMACH CRAMPS. SHE AND HER MOTHER DECIDED TO HAVE PARAMEDICS CHK HER AND SHE WAS TOO ILL TO CONTINUE ON FLT. I GOT HER TO THE JETBRIDGE WHERE ARPT MEDICAL PERSONNEL GAVE OXYGEN (HI FLO) AND CHKED HER PULSE (BLOOD PRESSURE WAS 100/70 INITIALLY). PARAMEDICS ARRIVED AND GAVE HER AN INJECTION AND ARRANGED TO HAVE HER ADMITTED FOR MEDICAL CARE. SHE; HER MOTHER AND BOYFRIEND DEPLANED. HEART MONITOR (PARAMEDIC'S) WAS ALSO USED BY PARAMEDICS. AFTER OXYGEN; BLOOD PRESSURE WAS 130/80. PAX WAS ON SEVERAL MEDICATIONS -- AND HAD TAKEN SOMETHING ON GND FOR MOTION SICKNESS. I COORDINATED THIS SECOND MEDICAL WITH CAPT; WHO ARRANGED FOR PARAMEDICS WHILE I SEARCHED FOR A WHEELCHAIR IN TERMINAL. I STAYED ON JETBRIDGE WITH ILL PAX; AFTER I SECURED WHEELCHAIR; UNTIL PARAMEDICS ARRIVED AND FINAL DECISION WAS MADE TO ADMIT PAX TO HOSPITAL. CAPT WAS EXTREMELY PROFESSIONAL IN HIS ASSESSMENT AND HANDLING OF THESE 2 SIMULTANEOUS MEDICALS.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

Loading the flight search…

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.