Audio: North Central Missouri College nursing instructors assist passenger on aircraft after he collapses

Woman giving CPR to man or victim on the ground (Photo via Envato Elements)
Share To Your Social Network

Three North Central Missouri College nursing instructors helped revive a man on an airplane on September 15th.

Simulation Skills Lab Coordinator Vel Westbrook from the Trenton campus and Cydney Bestgen and Sophia Swink from the Maryville campus were on their way back to Kansas City from a simulation nursing conference in Houston, Texas when the event happened.

Westbrook says her two colleagues preboarded the Southwest flight before her, however, she boarded in group A, and they were in group C. She planned to save them seats, but an older couple boarded. The woman asked Westbrook if they could sit by her, and she agreed. Westbrook notes she sat by the window to help with vertigo, the woman sat next to her, and the man sat next to the aisle.

The man made a loud sound about the time it was announced the plane would start its descent. Westbrook unbuckled herself, got in front of the man, and started compressions.

 

 

Westbrook says Bestgen and Swink saw a flight attendant run by and asked if they could assist when they saw Westbrook doing the compressions.

 

 

Westbrook states her colleagues were great, and the flight attendants and plane passengers were helpful.

The plane passengers applauded when the man stood up. The captain also introduced himself and thanked her, Swink, and Bestgen.  Westbrook says she does not know what caused the man to go into cardiac arrest. She also does not know what happened to the man after arriving at the airport but noted that is the hard part for nurses.

 

 

Westbrook does not know the name of the man or his wife. She says she only knows they planned to attend a Kansas City Chiefs game and had children in the Kansas City area.

She calls the situation “humbling” and says they “would do it 100 times over.” Nurses are public servants, and they were just doing what nurses do.  She adds that she has come upon vehicle accidents before when she was first on the scene, but she had never had an experience like this before on a plane.

Westbrook encourages everyone to attend a CPR class at least once every two years. NCMC offers a CPR class that is open to the public one Thursday evening each month. Contact Health Sciences Program Director Kristi Cutsinger at 660-359-1284 to register or for more information on the class.

(Photo via Envato Elements)


Share To Your Social Network
Jennifer Thies

https://www.kttn.com/

Jennifer’s interest in radio began at a young age. She started as a news reporter at KTTN in January 2017, but previously worked almost a year and a half as an on-air announcer and with news at the NPR affiliate KXCV/KRNW, which serves Northwest Missouri. Jennifer was born and raised in St. Joseph, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Science in Mass Media: Broadcast Production with an Emphasis in Audio Production from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.