Lena Ngow, RN, always wondered if she’d get the chance to help an airline passenger in distress.
Paul Morrow, RN, thought the same thing.
Ngow, a Kaiser Permanente transport nurse in the Radiology Department at the Geary Street hospital in San Francisco for 20 years, heard the call on past plane trips. But someone else always beat her to it.
In a pure coincidence, both Morrow and Ngow happened to be on the same flight from Honolulu to San Francisco recently when over the loudspeaker came the call.
“They made an announcement just like they do in the movies,” said Susan Wan, Ngow’s childhood friend who was traveling with her. Wan also is a Kaiser Permanente employee who works in National Medicare Administration in Oakland. “These 2 nurses went above and beyond. They saw a fellow human in distress, and they jumped into action.”
Before takeoff, the flight was delayed 12 hours, and everyone was tired.
“We finally got on the plane, and I fell asleep,” said Ngow. “When the snack cart came, I woke up and was enjoying a couple of bites. Then my friend Susan said, ‘Hey Lena, this lady in front of us might need your help.’”
The 88-year-old woman who was traveling alone was having a hard time holding her head up and had briefly fainted, said Ngow.
“She was pale and tired looking,” said Ngow. “I said, ‘How are you? Are you having chest pain? Are you having a hard time breathing?’ The lady said, ‘I just feel really weak and tired.’ I asked the flight attendant for a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. I took her vital signs. Her blood pressure was low. Her pulse was low.”
Sensing the woman was probably dehydrated, Ngow helped the woman to the back of the plane where she could lie down and put her feet up. She encouraged her to drink water.
Morrow, who retired from the San Francisco Medical Center about a year ago, had heard the call, too, and came to the back of the plane to offer his help. It turns out the passenger in distress was his new friend. Morrow had met her in the airport during their 12-hour delay.
As Morrow spoke to the woman, Ngow looked at him.
“I said, ‘Do you work at Kaiser?’” Ngow said. “He said, ‘Yes! But I retired last year.’ That’s when we realized we used to work together in post-partum.”
Morrow worked in the Neonatal Intensive Care Department for 21 years.
“I usually am a little hesitant to help out in these situations because my specialty is babies,” said Morrow, “But when the call came, I found out it was the lady who I had spent the day with. I knew a little bit about her. She had travelled from Kauai that morning. I had been encouraging her to drink more water during the day, but she said she wasn’t thirsty.”
Morrow told Ngow he would sit with the woman to take her pulse and make sure she was OK.
The woman recovered enough to fall asleep. When the plane landed in San Francisco, paramedics boarded, gave her intravenous fluids, and took her to a hospital where she made a quick recovery.
“That was my first experience helping in a plane,” said Morrow. “It turned out well, and I would do it again.”
Said Ngow: “I knew I would be called to help at one point, and this was the trip. Luckily, it was just dehydration.”
