New nurse saves life of fellow passenger on airplane

Courtney Donjon.
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas)

Courtney Donlon was sleeping on her flight home to New Jersey on Monday when an announcement woke her up — over the loudspeaker, a crew member was asking if any medical professionals were on board.

Donlon, 22, started as a nurse in the respiratory care unit at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick in September, and she quickly volunteered to help. A 57-year-old woman was experiencing the classic symptoms of a heart attack, and working with just a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, small tank of oxygen, aspirin, and defibrillator, Donlon got to work. "I was trying to think a step ahead — if she loses consciousness or a pulse and I have to give CPR," she told MyCentralJersey.com. "I was thinking, how do I make what I do have here work."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.