First Aid Corps

“I was taking my daughter to Disney World in Florida for spring break,” explained Air Evac Lifeteam flight nurse Amber Neumeier of Vilonia. “The flight was full with about 45 rows and three seats per side. Towards the end of the flight, the attendants called for any nurse or doctor who might be on board.”

Amber Neumeier the Saviour

At first, she didn’t respond because she was traveling with her 6-year-old daughter and didn’t want to leave her.

“But when no one else seemed to come forward, I headed to the front of the plane,” she said. “By the time I got up there, two doctors had stepped forward, but were still discussing who should assess the patient. They asked me what I did and I told them trauma flight nurse. That’s when they agreed that I was probably the best to handle the situation.”

It was her understanding that the man had gotten up to go to the restroom and fell in the aisle.

“He appeared to be nauseous and sweating, but was still conscious, so I did a blood sugar test,” Neumeier said. “Then the stewardess asked if I needed anything else, like the AED.

“I didn’t think I would really need it, but I asked her to go ahead and get it out. Shortly after this the gentleman rolled on his side and he passed out. I quickly hooked up the machine and it told me that he had a shockable rhythm. So I used the AED to shock him, we started CPR and the AED suggested another shock,” Neumeier said. “After the second shock he began breathing again on his own.”

The plane was only about 15 minutes from the airport when this happened and they radioed in declaring a medical emergency and were able to quickly land.

“There were paramedics ready when we landed and they took over the man’s care at that point,” Neumeier said. “The doctors and I had started CPR, and after using the AED a second time, the man opened his eyes and began breathing again on his own.

“It wasn’t that big of a deal, but I was glad I was able to help and that the plane had an AED on board.”

He appeared to be exhibiting signs of a heart attack with no actual chest pain. This is not completely unusual but he was lucky to have someone with medical knowledge including two physicians and a trauma nurse to help him.

The Frontier Airlines flight had been in the air only 15 minutes when Linda Upchurch looked over and saw her husband convulsing, before slipping into unconsciousness-his mouth open and his eyes in a fixed stare.

She summoned flight attendants, who quickly began resuscitation efforts, capped by the use of a defibrillator. Her husband’s heart started beating again.

She and her husband, Mike Upchurch, of tiny Lamar, Okla., about 90 mile southeast of Oklahoma City, were reunited Monday at Will Rogers International Airport with the airline crew and others who came to his aid last March after he suffered a heart attack while on a flight from Oklahoma City to Denver.

One of the flight attendants was Emmett Adams, a longtime paramedic.

Adams estimates it was “within four minutes” from the time fellow attendant Sylvia Price was summoned and the time Upchurch was revived after being taken to the back of the plane. Pilot Paul Francois brought the plane back to Oklahoma.

“I don’t remember anything about the flight until I came to in the ambulance on the way to the hospital,” Upchurch said.

A few days later, he underwent successful bypass surgery at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

“What do you say to somebody who saved your life? Thank you is not enough,” Mike Upchurch, 55, said. “It was just God’s hand on me that put me in your hands.”

We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

The drama began while Darren was flying back from a holiday with his girlfriend Suzanne Hallsworth, 30. 

Ed Torres and Darren Smith

Darren, a service engineer, complained of what he thought was indigestion before suddenly slumping in his seat. While Suzanne looked on in horror, Ed, 30, a surgical staff nurse at Stepping Hill and former medic Sharon Slater leapt into action.

Ed Torres used the aircraft’s defibrillator to restart Darren Smith’s heart during the flight from Mexico to Manchester Airport.

Ed, a nurse for eight years, was travelling back from Mexico with partner Miles Moorcroft, 37.

“When I got to him, he had no pulse and I thought I was too late. I felt I was in big trouble and people might start blaming me.”

“I had no colleagues telling me what to do and I was really scared.”

Sharon, from Cumbria, said: “When I got to Darren he was on the floor, wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse.”

“I thought it was going to be too late. It was the worst-case scenario because there was no room and people all around.”

“After resuscitating him it was a case of keeping him stable until we landed. He is very lucky.”

Ed, with assistance from Sharon Slater kept Darren stable for an hour-and-a-half before the aircraft could land in Azores.

After nearly a month of tests, it emerged he suffered from ventricular tachycardia, a condition in which abnormal electrical impulses cause the heart to pump far quicker than normal. This led to cardiac arrest.

His mum Linda said: “It happened at 30,000ft in the air and he was a lot closer to God than he will ever know.”

Dr Chris Burke, chief executive of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The actions of staff nurse, Ed Torres, were courageous and instinctive but not altogether surprising, as they are typical of the level of care and devotion that are intrinsic in all our staff here at Stepping Hill hospital.

“Ed has become somewhat of a hero on the ward and I would to take this opportunity to congratulate him for his quick-thinking and selfless actions that resulted in the saving of a man’s life. We are all very proud of him.”

Darren said: “He’s just amazing, I owe him my life. “What can I say? You start by saying thank you and move on from there.”

He said: “I feel like I’ve been given a second chance.”