WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Dr. Kashif Chaudhry is the director of cardiac electrophysiology at UPMC Williamsport. This past weekend he was on a flight to Phoenix when another passenger went into cardiac arrest.
"There was an announcement overhead about a medical emergency, and so I just ran to the seat, and I found this lady who was unresponsive," said Dr. Chaudhry.
Dr. Chaudhry and his wife, who is also a physician, started performing CPR. It was his first time doing so outside a hospital setting.
"The number one factor that determines whether someone is going to survive or not is how early they receive resuscitation," explained the doctor.
Just 90 seconds in, the woman regained a pulse and began to move. When the plane landed, medical crews took her to the hospital.
"I am in touch with her, and she is fine and doing great. She is getting more work up done now, and we will see what comes out of that," said Chaudhry.
Dr. Chaudhry says every doctor knows how to give CPR but is now advocating for the public to learn. He says you never know when you have to save a life, and it's good to be prepared.
"This is something anyone can do, and you could potentially save a life. All you need to do is learn CPR, and you can do that from your home."
According to the CDC, there is about an 80 percent mortality rate with people who go into cardiac arrest outside the hospital.
"We can improve the statistics. We can improve survival by two to three times just by doing CPR early."
If you are interested in learning CPR, you can visit the heart.org website.
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