National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) on Friday last week treated a 73-year-old passenger on a flight to Boston to relieve the fellow passenger of post-surgical abdominal pain.
Lee boarded the Japan Airlines flight from Narita International Airport to attend a conference in Boston. About seven hours into the flight, the crew asked if there were any physicians on board the plane and Lee volunteered to help.
The passenger had undergone surgery for an intestinal obstruction in Tokyo six days before the flight and was experiencing abdominal pain.
The man was concerned his surgical wound closures had opened, but when Lee examined the man, he discovered that the pain was caused by weak peristalsis and the man’s blood pressure was high, Lee said.
Lee prescribed some gastrointestinal and antihypertensive drugs from the plane’s emergency medical kit, which relieved his symptoms, and continued to check his condition about every half-hour until the plane landed.
“This is the second time I have helped a person on a plane,” he said, adding that he is happy he can use his skills to help in an emergency.
Before taking the NHIA director-general position, Lee was a renowned surgeon specializing in renal transplant surgery and a professor at National Cheng Kung University’s College of Medicine.
The United Daily News quoted Lee as saying that a student asked him why he was not afraid of medical disputes that might arise from offering help on a plane.
Lee replied that while medical resources on flights are highly limited, he could not bear to see a person hurt because he did not help, which would go against his profession.
Lee later received a certificate of appreciation from the airline for his help.
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