She almost died but was saved thanks to a rescue chain that worked properly. A 47-year-old woman suffered a brain hemorrhage on Tuesday morning shortly before boarding the plane at Elmas airport. Sporty, highly trained, never a health problem, never a warning, she was about to go on holiday with a friend. While crossing the hall she fell. Shortly afterwards she was examined by the doctors of the "Mameli", who guarantee assistance to passengers 24 hours a day: «She had a hemiparesis on her face, a crooked mouth, in short, the classic "side marks"» , says Giuliana Atzori, doctor of the Emergency Department airport assistance. «He belittled the paresis, arguing that it was linked to the car's air conditioning but he didn't convince us. She insisted, she wanted to leave for the long-awaited vacation but we explained to her that she was in grave danger ». So the airport doctors warned 118 and in the meantime Atzori called his colleague Maurizio Melis, who manages the Brotzu Stroke Unit, and alerted him.
The medical ambulance staff, who arrived immediately, immediately found that the woman had very high blood pressure: 140/250. The clues all pointed to a brain hemorrhage . In this case, every second is precious and the sooner action is taken to stop it, the less damage the body suffers. When she arrived at Brotzu, in code red, the woman was in critical condition . "Our immediate intervention, the promptness of the 118 team and the great skills of the personnel of the Stroke unit, an absolute excellence, were decisive", explains Atzori. " If the patient had fallen ill on the plane, perhaps she would not have survived because early diagnosis and treatment in these cases are essential". Yesterday the 47-year-old was better, even if in these cases prudence is a must, and now it will be a question of assessing whether she has suffered damage and possibly to what extent.
Ten doctors work in the airport emergency room who take turns covering the whole day. In the warm months, the outpatient clinic, which is located on the first floor next to international arrivals, is staffed by , another doctor is always available. They have rescued people with heart attacks, they assist people who are unable to walk but also psychiatric patients, they visit patients who go elsewhere to be treated before taking off, they often take care of travelers who are seized by panic or anxiety attacks before embarking or while they are in airplane. «Our goal is always to get them going, when the conditions are right», underlines Giuliana Atzori. «We all have different specializations, from internists to gynecologists, from allergists to oncologists, but what we have in common is periodic emergency-urgency training. We have two internal ambulances that can travel to the car parks. In short, we are prepared and ready to intervene for any eventuality ». They helped save a life on Tuesday.
