KUALA TERENGGANu; A government paramedic answered an SOS call on board an AirAsia flight from Kota Kinabalu to klia2 in Sepang, when a woman passenger went into fits, recently.
The action by Joseph Kulip, 54, probably saved the life of the ethnic Dusun woman, 24, who had slumped in her seat as the aircraft was cruising some 30,000ft (about 9,090m) over the South China Sea.
A fellow male passenger seated beside the victim had alerted cabin crew, who then summoned for help. Kulip, a Kadazan native from Tambunan, Sabah was returning to Kuala Terengganu after the Christmas and New Year holidays via a connecting flight from klia2 on Jan 3.
“It was around lunchtime when a flight attendant addressed the passengers for the need of a doctor or a paramedic on board to attend to a sick passenger.
“As no one else responded, I summoned enough courage to volunteer, despite knowing well the accountability and liability involved should something untoward happen to the victim following my intervention,” said Kulip, the principal assistant medical officer (paramedics) at the Terengganu Health Department.
Kulip said he immediately applied the ‘ABCD’ principle – to check for airway (blocked nose/throat), breathing, (blood) circulation and drugs/deformity.
“I also requested the flight attendant to loosen the blouse of the victim so that she can breathe easily.
“I checked her radial pulse and monitored the vital signs, as she was unresponsive but conscious in a sitting position in her seat,” said Kulip, whose action helped calm the situation in the cabin.
He said the pilot, who only identified himself as Capt Rus, then came over to ask on the victim’s condition.
“He asked me if we needed to divert to the closer Senai Airport in Johor to land immediately or proceed as planned to klia2.
“I had to make a split-second decision. I advised him that the patient was stable and we can proceed to klia2,” said Kulip, who kept watch on the victim for nearly an hour.
Upon landing, Capt Rus and the cabin crew thanked Kulip for his assistance and arranged for the victim to be wheel-chaired to awaiting medical staff.
He later learnt that the victim did not have a proper breakfast and suffered from a severe headache. A father of six, Kulip has served 27 years with the Health Ministry and is married to teacher Anna Giat.-NST
