"Great, successful! At about 1:45 a.m. on March 3, everyone in the service desk gave a thumbs up after China Southern Airlines flight CZ659 from Wuhan to San Francisco. Half an hour ago, an elderly passenger had difficulty breathing with phlegm in his throat and urgently asked the cabin crew for help. With the joint help of the cabin crew of China Southern Airlines and the medical staff on board, the old man finally succeeded in expelling the phlegm and turned the situation into a safe one.
This passenger is in a special situation, he has had a total laryngectomy before, and if the stuck sputum cannot be discharged, it will be life-threatening," recalled Wang Lei, the chief purser of the flight.
At around 1:20 on March 3, Beijing time, Wang Zhaolong, the purser of the rear cabin, was patrolling the cabin when he was grabbed by an elderly passenger's arm. "Hello sir, what do you need? The passenger pointed to his throat and could not speak. After learning from the passenger's family, it was learned that the passenger now has phlegm stuck in the respiratory tract and has difficulty breathing, so please ask the cabin crew to help find a way.
In an emergency situation, Wang Zhaolong immediately took the elderly to the rear service desk, and at the same time activated the emergency rescue plan for the sick passengers on board, arranged for the flight attendants to take medical equipment, broadcast to find medical personnel, and notified the chief purser. Chief Purser Wang Lei has more than 30 years of flying experience and rich experience in in-flight first aid. 3 minutes later, Wang Lei arrived at the scene with Miss Lin sitting in row 37 and Miss Jiang in row 60. Medical staff said that such situations are usually handled on the ground using a sputum aspirator to suck the sputum out. According to their descriptions, Wang Lei immediately arranged for the flight attendants to open the medical kit on board and work with the medical staff to make a simple sputum aspirator with syringes and venous tourniquets. Other flight attendants perform their duties, some are responsible for lighting with flashlights, some are responsible for collecting usable equipment from passengers on board, and some are responsible for disinfecting simple sputum aspirators. Unfortunately, the simple equipment made is quite different from the commonly used sputum suction device in medical treatment, and the negative pressure formed is not enough to suck the sputum out.
When everyone was at a loss, one of them, Miss Jiang, said: "I suck it with my mouth!" With the cooperation of the flight crew, the medical staff inhaled through the mouth of the venous tourniquet and tried to suck the sputum out. However, the sputum is so firmly attached that it cannot be sucked out directly even with all your strength. At this time, more than ten minutes have passed, and if the phlegm is not coughed up again, the old man is afraid that his life will be in danger. The medical staff decided to let the old man try to cooperate with himself, and arranged for Wang Zhaolong to be responsible for patting the old man's back, so that the old man could cough up phlegm with all his strength according to the instructions. At 1:33, a miracle finally appeared, and the old man coughed up part of the phlegm. After several repetitions, the phlegm was finally coughed up completely. The old man's airway opened smoothly and he could breathe normally. Unable to speak, the old man kept clasping his hands together to express his gratitude to the cabin crew and medical staff.
At this time, the plane was about to enter the descent stage, Wang Lei arranged for the elderly and their families to sit in the last row of the plane, and asked the medical staff to sit next to them to supervise. After landing, the emergency personnel got on the plane to make a preliminary diagnosis of the old man, saying that there was no major problem and his vital signs were normal. When assisting the old man to get off the plane, he showed the notebook in his hand to the purser Wang Zhaolong, and wrote four words on it: "Thank you". The family members of the old man have also been saying: "I don't know what to do when the two of us in our 70s take the flight, and I am so scared that I can't speak all the time." Now my heart has finally come to light, and I really thank you so much. ”
The moment the old man coughed up phlegm, everyone was so excited that they couldn't speak. Thank you to the medical staff for stepping up and thank you to every flight attendant for their sincere cooperation. Chief purser Wang Lei said in an interview.
Text and picture Guangzhou**New Flower City Reporter: Li Yan Correspondent: Nanxuan Guangzhou**New Flower City Editor: Lin Jing.