British-Pakistani doctor saves the life of a female passenger in mid-air with the help of an Apple watch.
Dr. Rashid Riaz of National Health Services from Hereford was traveling to Birmingham for vacation. On the same flight, the health condition of a 70-year-old woman deteriorated leading to health problems.
The cabin crew immediately asked if there was any doctor on board. Dr. Rashid Riaz came forward to help.
Following an initial examination, the doctor sought to assess the patient’s oxygen saturation. Unfortunately, the onboard equipment proved inadequate for this task. In a quick-thinking move, he inquired with the flight crew about the availability of an Apple Watch to monitor the woman’s health.
The medic said the woman was traveling with her husband. When asked about her medical history, the woman was unable to speak properly. Her husband then showed him the medicine which gave him an idea regarding her medical condition and severity of her disease.
“The Apple Watch helped me find out the patient had low oxygen saturation,” the medic explained.
Utilizing local health monitoring software, the doctor successfully identified the patient’s low oxygen saturation levels. Dr. Rashid Riaz emphasized that the elderly woman, suffering from heart disease, benefited significantly from the Apple Watch, enabling him to promptly detect and address the declining oxygen levels, ultimately saving her life through the administration of oxygen.
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“I used a lot of my own learning during this flight on how to use the gadget,” Dr Riaz said.
“It is a lesson in how we can improve in-flight journeys [with] this sort of emergency [via] a basic gadget which nowadays is easily available.
After obtaining her oxygen level, he then asked for the oxygen cylinder on board. The woman was immediately given oxygen supply through an oxygen mask
Following these measures, the patient recovered swiftly. Later on, she was handed over to the medical staff.