Plane passenger saves honeymooning doctors life on Hawaii flight: Need to shock you

A physician assistant saved the life of a doctor when she suffered a medical episode midflight and needed a defibrillator shock, avoiding tragedy right after her Hawaiian honeymoon.Emily Haley jumped into action when speakers on her overnight American Airlines flight called for medical assistance to save Dr.Jacquelyn Lacera, 61, who was suffering from arrhythmia, WBAL TV reported.As Lacera’s condition quickly deteriorated, Haley decided to use a defibrillator to steady the doctor’s heartbeat, a frightening but necessary action to save the family physician.“We talked about it, and I said, ‘I think I need to shock you.’ I said, ‘I don’t have a choice.’ And, she said, ‘Let’s do it,'” Haley recalled.

“She looked at me, I looked at her, and I said, ‘Do it,'” Lacera added.“That was the most painful thing I’ve ever been through.”The ordeal began about one hour into the Feb.

5 flight, with the recently-married Lacera suddenly falling ill and racing to the restroom, where she started vomiting and suffering heavy chest pains.After checking Lacera’s vital signs, Haley and the doctor concluded that she had some type of arrhythmia, which refers to an irregular beating of a person’s heartbeat.The doctor praised Haley’s quick thinking during such a tense situation miles above the ground.

“It’s amazing.God put her in that situation, and she did everything right,” Lacera said.

“It was wonderful.”Following the medical episode, Lacera said she reached out to lawmakers calling on them to push airlines to improve medical supplies after experiencing first hand the lack of proper equipment on board her plane.“Our pilots and flight attendants complete rigorous and regular training to support the customer in need and any onboard medical professionals who lend their expertise, and importantly, quickly and safely divert the aircraft when needed,” American told the Baltimore Sun.“Key to their response is the onboard emergency medi...