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A man in his 30s had an epileptic seizure while on a domestic flight last week of Air China from Kashgar to Urumqui, Xinjiang Province.
Fortunately, there was a physician aboard flight CA1478, reported NZHerald. Dr. Tian Yu, a 38-year-old doctor from the Rheumatology Department of Longhua Hospital in Shanghai, responded to the announcement of a flight crew asking if there was a doctor on board, reported Daily Mail.
After he saw the man’s condition and diagnosed him as suffering from an epileptic seizure, Yu asked for a spoon and towel. He removed first the vomit from the passenger’s mouth to prevent him from choking. The doctor then placed the spoon in the towel and placed it inside the patient’s mouth so he would not bite his tongue.
Since Yu has a background in Chinese medicine and used to be an emergency doctor, he applied pressure to key acupuncture points, such as the baihui aperture and sishencong aperture on the man’s head, using toothpick in the absence of needle. Sharp objects are disallowed on flights.
The purpose of the acupuncture was to activate the man’s brain. After five minutes of stimulation by Yu, the male passenger regained consciousness. He sat up and asked for water. Within 20 minutes, the plane landed at the Urumqi Diwopu International Airport where paramedics collected the passenger for further treatment.
Yu advised the man to always carry epilepsy medication when traveling by air to avoid suffering from a seizure mid-flight due to the change in air temperature and lack of oxygen which could easily trigger attacks.
