SIA steward falls severely ill with faint pulse on flight to S'pore, former medical staff steps in to save him

After a cabin crew member on a Singapore Airlines flight bound for Singapore from Chengdu, China lost consciousness suddenly, a former medical staff on board responded to the call for assistance.

For the remaining three hours until the plane landed, she administered an IV drip, gave him medicine and checked on his condition while staying by his side.

Incident

The doctor, known by her Xiaohongshu handle "Nicole K", described the incident in a post dated Oct. 21.

According to her, it was her first time flying with the Singaporean carrier. The trip took place on Oct. 17.

Not long after the plane took off, a call for medical personnel on board came on the public announcement system, she said.

"First time I heard it, I didn't get up right away. 'There must be other doctors on board...' I thought."

Nicole explained she had been away from the emergency room for a long time and was genuinely scared.

According to her post, she had only practised injecting fillers and botox as an aesthetic doctor in the past 10 years, and had "rusted" in resuscitating patients.

But when a second announcement came, she decided to see if there was anything she could help with.

Nicole said she found a young crew member lying weakly on the floor, with a faint pulse and cold limbs.

He was groggy and incoherent, but able to describe feeling nauseous.

Provided medical assistance

Nicole got to work providing medical assistance.

She first asked the cabin crew for a stethoscope, while asking them for help to check on the patient's blood pressure, oxygen levels and blood sugar levels.

Following that, she began prepared an IV drip.

The man's veins were hard to find, she said, which led to her asking the cabin crew to prepare extra catheters.

Fortunately, she successfully administered the drip in her first try.

"Thank goodness all those years in the ER weren't wasted," she wrote.

Nicole also gave the patient anti-nausea medicine, and continued monitoring him.

Thankfully, 30 minutes later, the steward's pulse became stronger and he appeared more alert.

But it was still about three hours until the scheduled landing time of 10:33pm, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.

Anxious about the man's condition, Nicole decided to stay by his side the rest of the way to observe him, before handing him over to the medical team on the ground.

Pat on her back

Reflecting on the incident, Nicole said she gave herself a pat on the back for responding to the call despite feeling nervous.

She also thanked the airline crew for their assistance.

"Huge thanks to the Singapore Airlines crew for this rescue mission.

Without a familiar medical team on the plane, everything had to be communicated step-by-step, but they were super cooperative—helping find equipment and caring for the patient."