At around 5 a.m. Beijing time on July 19, BA169 from London to Shanghai was just over two hours from landing when chaos erupted in the previously calm rear cabin. A foreign passenger suddenly fell gravely ill and was in critical condition.
Dr. He Qiyue, the deputy director and chief physician at Suzhou BOE Hospital, was on the flight returning to China to visit family. Awakened by the commotion and approached by a frantic flight attendant, she responded, "I'm a doctor, let me take a look!" They rushed to the rear lavatory, where a middle-aged man lay on the floor, vomiting uncontrollably. Dr. He quickly took decisive action, tilting the man's head to the side to prevent choking or aspiration pneumonia, noting his pulse was racing at 120 beats per minute.
After stabilizing the patient and assessing his condition, Dr. He learned that the 47-year-old man had no history of hypertension, diabetes, or recent surgeries. The patient had fallen ill while freshening up in the lavatory just before landing. Dr. He ruled out food poisoning and, with the help of the flight attendants, positioned the man in a lateral recumbent position to keep his airway clear. She also requested ground medical personnel be alerted to prepare for the emergency.
Over the next two hours, the patient vomited three more times but remained stable with Dr. He's continuous monitoring, as his pulse gradually stabilized to 50-60 beats per minute. At around 7:15 a.m., as the plane began its descent, Dr. He returned to her seat briefly at the flight attendants' suggestion, given the patient's condition appeared stable.
However, within five minutes, she was called back as the man's condition deteriorated sharply, his heart rate and pulse fading. Dr. He immediately commenced CPR. The flight attendants brought over the onboard Automated External Defibrillator (AED), but it did not activate, indicating a probable pulseless electrical activity (PEA), a condition where the heart's electrical system functions but fails to pump blood effectively. Recognizing this, Dr. He led the crew and other passengers in continuous CPR as the plane landed.
At 7:44 a.m., the plane landed safely after 25 minutes of onboard emergency care. Ground paramedics quickly boarded with their equipment and confirmed Dr. He's diagnosis of PEA. Without timely and accurate intervention, the survival rate for such cases is less than 5%.
This incident marks Dr. He's fourth "in-flight rescue." She has previously rendered medical assistance on flights from Frankfurt to Nanjing in 2018, during her return from an international anesthesiology conference in Budapest, and on a Taipei to Italy flight in 2019.
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