Life saver at 30,000ft: Jersey nurse spots passenger's deadly infection

Monday 25 September 2017

A Jersey nurse saved a man from a killer infection after spotting the symptoms at 30,000ft.

Highlands-trained nurse Emma Channing (23) was just about to fall asleep three hours into her flight home from a “relaxing break” in Mexico when she heard the announcement: “Are there any doctors or nurses on board?”

She rushed forward to find a man turning blue as he fought for breath. But Emma’s quick-thinking identified the source of the problem: the life-threatening blood infection, sepsis.

“I introduced myself and asked him to explain what had happened, and he said he got on the plane feeling absolutely fine and it wasn’t until we were properly in the sky that he started to feel pretty unwell,” she explained to Express.

“He had an accident, he fell in Cancun and had a fractured rib so the first thing that came to my mind was that maybe the rib had punctured his lung and you can go for days without even realising. It can make a seal and when you go in a plane, it could have slipped and caused a pneumothorax...Considering his temperature was very high - he was needing an oxygen mask and struggling to breathe - one of the things that came into my mind was that the rib had caused a puncture in his lungs or he had sepsis.”

Pictured: Emma had just enjoyed a fun holiday at Riviera Maya, Mexico, with her cousin when the drama unfolded on her flight home.

Assisted by two other passengers - a student nurse and another woman trained in first aid - Emma did all she could to keep a cool head while looking after the passenger. But she felt the pressure mounting.

“If I’m in the hospital, we would do certain blood tests and get them tested within five minutes. I would be giving IV treatment, antibiotics, fluids… But because I had really restricted resources, it was difficult. I was very, very nervous.”

After between three and four hours of relaying messages through the cabin crew to the captain, and doctors on the ground, Emma was forced to make an important decision.

“The captain came out of his cockpit - I was at the front of the plane at this time - and he was saying, 'How serious is it? If we make it to Gatwick, is he going to be well enough? ...In your professional opinion, do you think we need to land this plane?' And I said, 'Yes, we definitely need to.'

“Considering i was the only person that had knowledge of the possible infection that he had, I just felt a lot of pressure on me.”

Pictured: The Jersey-born nurse was forced to make a quick decision to land the plane in order to save the passenger, who was becoming unconscious.

But it turned out to be the right call - the plane landed in Canada, where the passenger was able to receive treatment. He is now understood to be on his way to recovery.

Looking back, Emma, who has been a qualified nurse for just one year, told Express that the whole experience had been “like a dream.”

“When I sat back down and saw him getting taken by the paramedics, I thought, ‘What happened then? Did that really just happen?’

“It was funny because on the way to Cancun at the beginning of our holiday, I said to my cousin, “Imagine if on holiday I get called on the plane or I have to get the nursing skills out?” ...We were laughing as well because on the way to Cancun we were thinking, where would we like to go on holiday next? And I actually said Canada. Everything comes in threes, so I hope the next one’s a good one.”

The Jersey nurse went to Les Quennevais School before attending Highlands, and said that she had always wanted to be a nurse, even though she “wasn’t really sure why.” It turned out to be the right decision. She told Express that she loves her job working in orthopaedics at Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Pictured: "I can't think of any other career that I would be in," Emma says of her job working at Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust. "I've always wanted to make people better."

“People come through after a horrible incident or a car crash, and they’re coming in a really bad way and it’s so much satisfaction when you make them better. Nursing’s not a ‘wave a magic wand’ career, but I get satisfaction from making a difference to that person. When they come from a really difficult time in their lives and then just through me doing my job, that progression - I really do like it.”

Since her impressive rescue, Emma says that she’s been showered in praise by friends, fellow passengers, and even old teachers she hasn’t heard from in years, who have labelled her a “hero.” But she doesn’t agree.

“I’m just doing my job - it doesn’t matter if I’m 6,000ft in the air or in a submarine in the middle of the ocean. It’s second nature with me - second nature completely. I didn’t have to think about it, I just did it. My nurse hat doesn’t come off when I’m on holiday or when I have a day off, it’s always there.”