Image source, Dr. Rashid Riad
Dr. Rachid Riad helped an elderly patient before a skiing holiday in Italy
- author, Josh Sandiford
- Role, BBC News, West Midlands
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A doctor used an Apple Watch to help an elderly woman who had a medical emergency on a flight.
NHS doctor Rasheed Riaz, from Hereford, was traveling on Ryanair from Birmingham to Verona for a skiing holiday.
During the flight on January 9, the woman, who is in her 70s, experienced shortness of breath, and the cabin crew then asked if there was a healthcare worker on board.
Dr Riaz, 43, stepped up to help and, by borrowing the device from a flight attendant, was able to use his original health monitoring software to measure a patient’s oxygen levels.
He said he discovered that the woman had a history of heart problems, after speaking to her in her mother tongue, Urdu, which reassured her husband when she did not initially respond to his queries.
The doctor knew that wrist-worn technology could further assist with his medical queries, but he was not wearing his own device, so he asked staff for one.
“The Apple Watch helped me detect low oxygen saturation in the patient,” the paramedic explained.
Apple’s website said the measurements taken using the Blood Oxygen app were not intended for medical use and were designed only for “fitness and general health purposes.”
The iPhone maker is also locked in a patent dispute with medical technology company Masim over the software, and revealed last week that it would launch the Apple Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches without the blood oxygen feature to keep them on shelves.
Image source, Dr. Rashid Riad
Dr. Riaz specializes in internal medicine at Hereford County Hospital
After receiving the watch from an employee, Dr. Riad asked the employees that there was an oxygen cylinder on board the plane.
This allowed him to monitor and maintain the women’s saturation levels until they landed safely in Italy about an hour later.
He added that the patient recovered quickly and was handed over to the medical staff and exited the plane with their help.
“I used a lot of what I learned during this journey on how to use the tool,” Dr. Riaz said.
“It’s a lesson in how to improve in-flight travel (with) this kind of emergency (via) a basic tool that’s readily available nowadays.”
‘Saved lives’
Dr Riaz, who works at Hereford District Hospital, praised Ryanair staff who dealt with the emergency.
But he called on all airlines to consider having emergency medical equipment as standard.
The doctor explained that this would ideally include tools for basic measurements, blood pressure and diabetes monitors, and an oxygen saturation monitor.
“These things can save someone’s life in an emergency,” he added.