Okaz/Saudi Gazette report

MADINAH — A Saudi Arabian Airlines plane made an emergency landing on Tuesday at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah to save the life of a Yemeni woman passenger after worsening her health condition.

The Riyadh-bound plane (SV1038) changed its course 30 minutes after its take off from King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah. The flight captain decided emergency landing after the initial intervention of a Saudi medical team who were on board the plane.

Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette, Saudi journalist Ghaith Muhammad Al-Omari, one of the passengers of the plane, said that the Yemeni woman suffered fainting half an hour after the plane took off from Jeddah. The flight crew was informed about her condition and a Saudi medical team who were on board the plane, attended the case. The medical team included Dr. Adel, a specialist in surgery, and Dr. Khaled Al-Zahrani from King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah, and nurse Amal Fahd Al-Athel.

Their efforts crowned with success as her condition became normal. However, after passing of seven minutes, the young woman’s condition worsened once again and she was resuscitated within a couple of minutes. She was provided with first-aid and pulmonary resuscitation, and undergone blood pressure checking.

As the condition of the woman remained critical, the medical team advised the flight crew to transfer her to hospital without delay. After informing the pilot about her condition, he decided to change the course of travel and make an emergency landing at Madinah airport to transport her to the nearest hospital. As soon as the plane landed at the airport, the medical team at the airport dealt with her case.

Abdulrahman Hamouda, spokesman of the Madinah Health Cluster, said that the health control center at the airport examined on Tuesday evening the case of the Yemeni woman in her 20s after receiving information that she was suffering from neurological complications while on board the domestic flight. He said the medical team took care of the case immediately upon the plane’s arrival at the airport until her condition became stable and was transferred then to the Maternity and Children’s Hospital under King Salman Medical City in Madinah for treatment.