COMMENTARY
A calling to help
BY JASON WANG During my three years at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medi- cine in El Paso, I’ve seen approximately 1,000 pa- tients come in with a wide variety of health issues. Around the holidays and early this year, my knowl- edge was called upon not once, but twice, in emer- gency situations. On Christmas day, I was sitting in a plane to To- kyo on my way to Taiwan to visit my grandmother. Suddenly, the mini-screens on the back of every seat started flashing red with this message: “If you are a doctor, please alert a flight attendant immediately.” I sat in my seat for a good seven seconds, willing one of the 400 passengers to stand up and yell, “I’m a doctor!”
No one did. I made my way up the aisle and saw a tiny 60-year-old woman on the floor, unresponsive. At that point, the train-
Medical student Jason Wang credits his training from Texas Tech Uni- versity Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine with helping him effectively respond in two emergency situations.
I asked for help from a veterinarian sitting in first class. We got a blood pres- sure cuff on her arm, and it came back with a read- ing of 85/55. Eventually, I was able to find someone who told me she did have one alcoholic drink with her meal. I processed the infor- mation and was able to get her the care she needed. Luckily, we did not need to start an IV.
The woman woke up and was able to recover. The 300 passengers sitting behind me watching the action clapped. After the plane landed, the flight at- tendants and many of the passengers thanked me, as did the patient and her husband.
Answering the call In January, I joined a group of medical students on a ski trip to Taos, N.M. I went a day after the main group with my girlfriend, Christian-Marie Domin- guez, who is a nurse. We
ing kicked in, and I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I checked her ABCs (airway, breathing, and circulation) while calling for an emergency medical kit and gathering a patient history as well as I could.
It was a hectic 10 minutes. Someone mentioned she might be diabetic. I couldn’t hear her breathing even with a stetho- scope because of the engine vibrations. She was very pale.
were about 10 miles south of the small town of Socorro, N.M., when a serious two-car collision occurred in front of us. As we drove up, I saw the entire back half of a Ford Taurus had been ripped away; debris, metal, and glass littered the highway.
My girlfriend and I ran out of our car toward the Taurus. In the seat, I saw an elderly man sitting with his eyes wide open,
April 2014 TEXAS MEDICINE 5
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