A Singapore doctor who tried to save a passenger who lost consciousness on a Singapore Airlines flight to Milan has shared that he feared he might not have been good enough to help.
Consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist Dr Desmond Wai, who has more than 20 years of experience, opened up about his experience on board SQ378 from Singapore to Milan on Nov 5 in a series of TikTok videos.
Dr Wai, who runs a gastrointestinal diseases centre at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre, said he and two other doctors, together with the flight crew, tried in vain to resuscitate the passenger for about half an hour. The passenger eventually died.
In his videos, he also explained what happens when a passenger dies on a flight, why he had no authority to certify the death, and that he and the other two doctors were questioned by Milan police upon touchdown. He added that the passenger’s widow personally thanked him for his efforts.
In his latest video on Nov 7, he revealed that one of his concerns when he responded to the call was that he might not be good enough to attend to the medical emergency.
His first consideration: “Am I qualified? Am I good enough?”
“My licence is in MBBS in Singapore. I’m a practising gastroenterologist. But beyond that, I know very little. How to handle a fracture, how to handle a stroke, how to handle a heart attack with the latest knowledge. I may not be the best in those areas,” he concedes.
