Editor’s Note:
The hero of this article, Dr. Tan Xianjie, is the chief physician of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
On a flight back to Beijing, he treated a female patient with an emergency in a strange way.
After landing, Dr. Tan recorded the experience and sincerely hoped that more people would realize:
Those who deliberately cover the nose of the population are not necessarily bad guys, but also doctors.
It was an ordinary Saturday. I boarded the ordinary flight CA1286 and returned to Beijing. I sat in the ordinary middle row and began to close my eyes. Until the woman in the front row became ill, I thought that this was just another ordinary business trip… … …
Photo Source: Provided by Author
On the plane
Young Mother Sudden Situation
The plane flew at a high speed but gently towards the capital and was about to land soon.
The cabin radio rang with the sweet voice of the flight attendants telling everyone [to close the table board, adjust the back of the chair, fasten the seat belt].
At this moment, the woman sitting in front of me suddenly shouted to the flight attendant.
The woman is a young mother and still holds her six-month-old child. There was no what abnormality during the flight ahead.
At the critical moment of landing, it is not convenient for the flight attendants to leave their seats to provide help.
A young man who may be a security guard stood up and asked about the situation. The young mother said she was very uncomfortable and dizzy.
Photo Source: Provided by Author
The middle-aged woman sitting nearby kindly tore open the vomiting bag and handed it to the young mother. She took the sleeping child in her arms and comforted her again:
I’ve already seen the terminal, just put up with it for a while.
It should be ordinary airsickness, I thought to myself.
Carsickness, seasickness, airsickness such things, can endure, can’t help but vomit, as long as you don’t vomit on others.
However, I soon discovered that the situation was not so simple.
The situation is getting worse and worse.
This is not a simple airsickness
The middle-aged woman has been patting and comforting the young mother, but her breathing is getting heavier and heavier. I sat in the back row and saw her pale side face with big drops of sweat through the gap in the seat.
After a while, the young mother asked for help and said that she felt unable to breathe and her hands began to cramp.
Hearing that my hand was going to cramp, I suddenly remembered an emergency in our ward…
A few months ago, during the morning rounds, I was asking one of my patients after hysteromyomectomy.
The patient was very young and the operation went smoothly, but he was nervous.
When I asked, she said that she had a little chest tightness and her hands and feet were tight, as if she were going to cramp. I comforted her. It doesn’t matter, let her inhale some oxygen first. I didn’t expect her symptoms to get worse and worse. In a short time, her hands became claws and couldn’t be extended at all.
Photo Source: Provided by Author
Doctor, my whole body is tight and uncomfortable!
At that time, I judged that the patient was calcium deficient, so I asked the nurse to inject two calcium gluconate intravenously into her. The patient’s symptoms eased slightly. I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the patient’s symptoms relapsed again! And it’s worse than before!
We took blood gas from the patient, checked the electrolyte level and acid-base balance, and called urgently for help from the chief on-duty physician of internal medicine.
The chief internal medicine officer rushed to check the patient, asked the nurse to find a slightly larger food bag, and then buckled the bag on the patient’s face.
Then, the patient’s symptoms soon eased.
The situation of this young mother on the plane is almost a replica of my patient a few months ago!
Because I think back to this matter, I have a preliminary diagnosis in my heart.
I covered my young mother’s mouth
At that time, the plane had landed, but it was still taxiing fast.
Several crew members had gathered around the passengers. I also unfastened my seat belt and stood up.
Later, I opened a cleaning bag and prepared to cover the young mother’s nose and mouth with it.
In the face of such an impolite stranger who covers people’s mouths without hesitation, anyone will be very resistant. The young mother resisted and said painfully:
What are you doing? Move it, I’m suffocating! I don’t want it!
The people around me also looked at me with suspicion and even horror.
I hurriedly said loudly:
I am a doctor from Concorde. Do what I say first and explain later.
After I revealed my identity as a doctor, everyone somewhat withdrew their suspicious eyes, but the young mother still shook her head and did not want me to cover my nose and mouth with paper bags.
I had to take the paper bag and leave her mouth and nose for a short distance. At the same time, I patted her on the shoulder to relax her and told her not to take deep breaths. It would be better if I could hold it for a while.
I told her in an unquestionable tone:
Don’t worry, you can’t hold it back.
But in fact, at that time, my heart was far less calm than I seemed.
Because the initial effect is not very obvious, my heart is a little bit of a whisper:
What if it’s not the kind of situation I’m thinking about, but a heart attack or something?
I conveniently touched the young mother’s pulse, beating strongly and with normal frequency. My judgment should not be wrong.
The crisis was resolved and everyone was relieved.
At this point, the plane has slowly stopped taxiing.
But the past few minutes seem to be extremely long for me, for my young mother and for the flight attendants.
Fortunately, the young mother recovered. She said she felt much better and her twitching hands relaxed a lot.
The most dangerous moment has passed.
At this time a flight attendant asked:
Why do you want to cover the patient’s nose and mouth with a paper bag, isn’t it more hypoxic?
Looking at the patient’s frowning brows stretching, the flight attendants also thanked me.
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