Local EMT Faces In-Flight Emergency

Advanced EMT James Garside turned an airplane seat into a makeshift medical transport after a 75-year-old women became unresponsive mid-flight. Photo by James Garside

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

An off-duty member of the Commack Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to a medical emergency ... at 30,000 feet.

James Garside said he was returning from vacation on Southwest flight 1918 from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Baltimore when he heard two flight attendants' call buttons go off around 30 minutes into the flight.

“I was no more than three or four rows in front of these three ladies when I noticed the flight attendant go over,” Garside said. “It was one of those times when you just get a sense that something’s not right.”

Garside said he knew the flight crew would need assistance even before the announcement was made over the cabin intercom requesting that any trained medical personnel identify themselves.

“I showed the flight attendant my AEMT card and, after I quickly assessed the [unconscious] woman, I found she had extremely low blood pressure,” he said, of 75-year-old woman he attended to.

Garside, an advanced emergency medical technician who is qualified to start an IV, said that he was already familiar with the medical equipment he would have at his disposal because, remarkably, this was the second time he was called upon to administer emergency care on a Southwest flight.

“In 2009, I was on a Southwest flight from Baltimore to Albuquerque when a similar event happened and an elderly woman passed out on the flight,” Garside said.

In both emergencies, Garside said he used an on-board medical kit that contained oxygen, IV supplies and multiple medications including a 500ml bag of normal saline. The patient’s condition improved and she regained consciousness after Garside administered oxygen and started an IV line to administer fluids.

“The hardest part about administering care on an airplane is the limited space,” Garside said. “I had to improvise on where to hang the IV, and I ended up hanging it from the overhead compartment.”

In addition to medical supplies, Southwest flights can communicate with physicians from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center through a program called STAT-MD. This program allows flight attendants or first responders to communicate and consult with doctors on the ground via headsets while the plane is in flight.

“I told the flight attendant what updates to give to the doctor on the ground through the headset, and because the patient’s condition was improving he decided that it was safe to fly the rest of the way to Baltimore,” Garside said.

The patient remained in stable condition throughout the rest of the flight, and was able to continue on to her connection to Boston, according to Garside who continued on to New York.

“Eight years later and they still had the same equipment and method to contact STAT-MD,” Garside said. “Overall everything was calm because the care was administered immediately.

A call for comment to the press office for Southwest was not returned before deadline.