Rana Sleiman

I was with my mother on a connecting flight to Vancouver enroute to Peru. I was just settling down into my seat ready to enjoy the start of our holiday together when the flight staff announced, “Is there a doctor on the plane?”. I laughed and said to my mom, “this is the sort of thing you only see on tv!”

The flight crew then called for a nurse, as no doctor responded. I was hesitant to come forward, but my mother insisted. My mother is an immigrant, and I am a first generation Canadian, and she is so proud that I am a nurse and had opportunities she didn’t have. I identified myself to the flight crew, and with my mom bursting with pride, was led to the passenger needing medical assistance.

The attendants handed me the dusty first aid kit. The passenger was having a seizure. I went through the kit, and it had expired batteries, medication, and equipment that hadn’t been touched in years. I did the best I could to assess the patient without working equipment, and ensured the ABC’s were covered. While I was concerned at first about my skills in this situation, I quickly realized that my nursing education gave me the knowledge needed to monitor her for the rest of the flight. My poor mom was left to sit by herself for an hour, but she didn’t mind, I was helping someone and she was so proud!

When we landed, the emergency medical services (EMS) arrived and took the patient off the plane while the rest of the passengers stayed seated. When I finally got off the plane, I saw the patient with EMS at the gate. As I walked by to connect to my final flight, the patient saw me and gave a thumbs up, which was the coolest way to say, “thank you I’m doing alright”.

Rana Sleiman, RN