A New Jersey resident returning from his honeymoon in Italy helped save a woman experiencing a medical emergency on a cross-Atlantic flight home in mid-September, local reports say.
Anesthesiology resident Zachary Lazev was headed back to Newark, New Jersey, with his newlywed wife when a woman asked flight attendants if there was anyone on board with medical experience. The woman’s blood pressure had dropped, causing her to need immediate medical attention, according to Penn Live.
“It was one of those situations that was almost like a movie. You don’t anticipate anything like that ever happening,” Lazev told ABC7 New York.
It was an extra memorable honeymoon for a South Jersey man, after he helped save a woman on his flight home who was having a mid-air medical emergency. https://t.co/e3Di4Iitmf
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) September 20, 2023
Fortunately Lazev was on the plane, ready to do whatever he could within the plane’s limited cabin space. (RELATED: Engine Fire Prompts Evacuation Of Passengers From Flight, Nine Injured)
“[We] get IV access on the plane, start running fluids. I started pushing medications to sustain her blood pressure,” he told ABC7. “It’s on a plane so you have limited medical supplies.”
Two nurses were also on board, but Lazev ultimately concluded the woman would not make it through the remainder of the flight in her condition, according to the outlet. The pilots steered the plane around and landed in France, where EMS were there waiting.
“We work in the operating rooms, a controlled environment. This certainly isn’t, but I will say sometimes you can surprise yourself at what you’re able to do,” Lazev told ABC7.
Lazev is a graduate of Drexel University and a resident at Virtua Marlton Hospital, according to The Messenger. He said both his schooling and his experience in the medical field equipped him for this moment of medical crisis.