Argentine Doctor Saves Dutch Woman's Life During Flight

On a flight from Schiphol to Buenos Aires, a 42-year-old Dutch woman's life was saved by the quick actions of an Argentine rheumatologist, Jonatan Mareco. The doctor happened to be on board when the woman suffered a cardiac arrest, and he performed CPR for an hour and a half.

Emergency Landing in São Paulo

According to Argentine media reports, the pilot was able to make an emergency landing in São Paulo, where Brazilian emergency services were ready and waiting. Mareco described the panic on board as 'terrible' due to the cramped conditions, lack of knowledge of where medical supplies were located, and turbulence experienced during the flight. He also expressed frustration with passengers who were looking over his shoulder while he was trying to save the woman's life.

Second Doctor on Board

Fortunately, there was a second doctor on board, Rodrigo Salinas, who works as a head of arthritis in a hospital in La Plata. Salinas was able to stabilize the woman while Mareco began CPR. Several other passengers assisted by translating the conversation between the man and the doctors as the man only spoke Dutch. Mareco stated that the woman was very lucky, as he was almost not able to board the flight to Argentina due to overbooking. The current condition of the Dutch woman is unknown.

Flight KL701 of KLM

The incident happened on flight KL701 of KLM. Due to privacy reasons, KLM has only disclosed that the flight was diverted to São Paulo due to a medical emergency.