A dramatic medical emergency unfolded aboard a JetBlue flight from Fort Lauderdale to Newark this week, when a 67-year-old woman was found unconscious in the aircraft bathroom with critically unstable vital signs and cyanosis.

On board were Chaim Wieder (Hatzalah South Florida / HSF-23), also a respiratory therapist at Memorial Hospital, and his wife Gitty (Orzechowitz), a nurse practitioner and the daughter of Hatzolah members F18/HSF18/L318. The two immediately sprang into action.

The patient was discovered unresponsive and in critical condition. Chaim and Gitty initiated emergency care mid-flight, starting two IV lines and administering multiple medications using the limited medical resources available on the aircraft.

Thanks to their swift and professional intervention, the woman was stabilized before landing. Upon arrival in Newark, care was transferred to awaiting EMS units for further treatment.

When the patient regained consciousness and realized she had been saved by two Jewish medical professionals, she reportedly said, “Yasher Koach.”

It was later confirmed that the patient herself is Jewish, and her life was quite literally saved in the skies.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)