Envision being thousands of feet above ground seated inside a crowded aircraft when suddenly an in-flight medical emergency occurs. A passenger seated in the aircraft was having trouble breathing and her skin turned pale and strained. Other passengers looked on in concern but did not know how to intervene, Dr. Smita Moitra, consultant and in-charge, Emergency Department, Manipal Hospitals, Broadway in Kolkata took charge of the situation.
The incident occurred on a Kolkata-to-Delhi flight on December 6, when a 45-year-old woman from Bikaner started experiencing severe hypertensive heart failure due to a long history of high blood pressure. With the aircraft being mid-air, every second was critical. What followed was a reminder of how fragile life can be, and how human instinct and compassion can come together to make a difference in the face of crisis.
The passenger, traveling alone from Kolkata to Delhi, started feeling unwell 15 minutes into the flight. Initially what was just mild discomfort, soon turned into severe shortness of breath, chest pain, and a choking sensation. Her condition appeared to be deteriorating rapidly—she began to sweat profusely, her restlessness intensified, and she could not speak anymore. Her blood pressure rose to life-threatening levels of 240/120 mmHg in moments, where even breathing seemed impossible to her.
Amid the chaos, as the cabin crew ran to help the panicking passengers, it was the real-life hero, Dr. Smita, who took charge of the situation. After calmly assessing the patient, she diagnosed her with hypertensive heart failure, a critical condition that could have led to cardiac arrest or respiratory collapse if not treated promptly.
With minimal emergency supplies on board, she acted quickly. She injected the patient with Lasix to reduce fluid overload, sublingual nitroglycerin to relieve her chest pain, and Ecosprin to manage cardiac stress. The patient was provided oxygen to help with her breathing. As the patient stabilized, the crew informed the pilot, and the flight was diverted to Ranchi, where an emergency medical team awaited the patient. Without her timely diagnosis and intervention, the consequences could have been catastrophic.
Dr. Smita stated, “It was an incredibly tense situation where every second felt critical. Staying calm and making quick, effective decisions is vital in such cases. The risk of things going wrong, like cardiac arrest or respiratory failure, was very real. Still, I’m grateful that I could use my training and experience to act quickly and stabilize her before the flight could land safely. Knowing that my efforts saved her life is the most rewarding part of being a doctor.”
Thanks to the doctors efforts, the passenger was stable by the time the flight landed. She was transported in a wheelchair to a local hospital for further treatment. Later updates confirmed that the patient had recovered and had gone back to her normal life.
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