Florida

Midair Medic: Philadelphia Paramedic Saves Man's Life at 37,000 Feet

Retiring Philadelphia Fire Paramedic Capt. Richard Bratcher didn't expect to save a man's life on a flight from Orlando to Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon.

But when the US Airways flight crew called for someone with medical training to urgently care for a 57-year-old man who had fallen seriously ill about an hour into the flight, Bratcher said his training kicked in right away.

Bratcher, 50, who is about to retire after 25 years with the Fire Department, had just settled in when he heard the call over the plane's intercom: A passenger in coach class needed medical attention immediately.

Bratcher hadn't practiced as a paramedic for several years since he became a supervisor. But as soon as he got to the sick man's seat and saw him, he said, his training and decades of experience took over.

"All you had to do was look at this man and know he was very sick. He was gray. His lips were blue," Bratcher recounted Wednesday. "He was still conscious, so I kind of just put the flight crew to work. I said get me some oxygen, get some aspirin, get me some water."

Bratcher gave his fellow passenger two aspirins to chew, had him drink some water and kept him on oxygen the whole time, the paramedic captain said.

"Then probably within 15 minutes of chewing the aspirin and oxygen, his color came back into his face," Bratcher said. "By the time we landed in Philly, we were laughing and joking with each other. It was an experience. It was really an experience."

Bratcher said he told the flight attendants to tell the pilot to "punch it up" and fly faster to get to Philly. The flight, which would normally be about two-and-a-half hours long, landed at Philadelphia International Airport 45 minutes early. Bratcher, who is originally from Florida, was returning from visiting his home state to make settlement on his retirement home, he said.

Firefighters and medics from Engine 78 and Medic 30 met the plane on the tarmac and took the man to the hospital. Bratcher said on Wednesday, as he packed up his Queen Village house for his move to Florida, that he hopes the man, whose name escaped him, is doing well.

"I hope he's doing very well," Bratcher said. "Honestly, when the chips are down, you don't remember names. When you do what I've been doing for 30 years, you just go into this automatic mode of, 'Let me make this person better.'"

Fire Department Deputy Commissioner for EMS Jeremiah Laster praised Bratcher's quick thinking.

"He did a great job and we're proud of him," Laster said. "There's no greater feeling than to know you made a positive impact on somebody's life."

Laster said despite the challenges of stabilizing someone mid-air, Bratcher was able to fall back on his experience to help the fellow passenger.

"The bottom line is, one of the best skills of a paramedic with Capt. Bratcher's experience would be being able to look at a person and recognize they're in dire straits," Laster said. "He utilized those skills, making sure the person on the plane got 100 percent oxygen, and was able to secure aspirin to help the patient recover."

Others on the flight gave Bratcher accolades, too, for springing into action and saving the man's life, Bratcher said -- but he doesn't believe it was a big deal.

"When I got to baggage claim, all these young kids — I'm 50 years old, so I call them young kids, but they were in their 20s and 30s — they were like, 'Dude, you were amazing,'" Bratcher said. "I'm like, 'I'm not amazing. I didn't do anything. I just did what I do.'"

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