Is there a Doctor on the plane??

[Hoppinggreen]

I had an experience yesterday that was a bit "is there a Doctor on the plane?", although obviously not as impressive and I was wondering if anyone else has had similar, even if it was just something very minor, maybe a bit niche that you happened to know or can do.
I popped into our local petrol station to collect a parcel yesterday and there was a man holding a piece of paper and speaking to the attendant. As walked in the attendant looked at me and said I have no idea what he is saying he doesn't speak English, I don't suppose you know what he is saying do you?
The man turned to me and started speaking an EU language I speak very well.
Directions given, all sorted.
I am not talking about an actual Doctor on a plane situation here or anything lifesaving just a moment when someone said "I don't suppose you happen to know ............. do you?"

Very thankful to the Dutch doctor and British nurse who helped out at a French service station when my youngest cracked his head on the sill of the car, they both literally heard the scream and came running, didn't even need to ask- despite the fact they were clearly in the midst of their own holidays...

@mindutopia the ax in the forest, accidental or deliberate? If accidental, how do you do that with a single swing of an ax?

My dad, too. 1991 air ambulance in Europe back to UK. My mum was told probably cost £30k. Then, near 35 years ago. She still uses the insurance company now. Churchill. I never travel without insurance.

Ex Wife, Ds (6 months old) and myself on a flight from hell after the worst holiday ever. Guadeloupe to Paris Orly. Customs strike meant we were 2 hours late getting on the plane, passenger walking up the stairs broke their leg, further delay while they retrieved their luggage. Sat in my aisle seat when passenger on the next seat across the aisle collapsed . Ex Wife was a doctor, so I took DS and she went to deal with him. Took him to the crew area. Left alone with DS and a creepy woman in our row of seats encouraged me to hand over DS and go help my ex(I have no medical training). Not happening. Ex came back with patient having diagnosed exhaustion and dehydration.

Plane took off and we flew for a few hours. Stewardess came down and asked if my ex could come to treat someone in first class. No equipment, no medicine and a language barrier but he appeared to have symptoms of a heart attack. Stewardess explained that if she felt it was necessary then the divert airport was back at Guadeloupe. Ex was considering the divert when the French speaking passenger across the aisle identified himself as a doctor, said the patient was fine to carry on and ex scuttled back to cattle class to find me politely fending off the creepy woman who wanted DS to sit with her.

Two weeks later, letter of Air France saying ta very much and bugger all else.

Oh my God that was me in Italy. So proudly and perfectly i asked for "Due Etti di carotte" at the local market. My grammar was spot on, my use of the word etto being the useful word for 100g, perfect. Brilliant conversation with the market trader. However, 200g of carrots is still only one f carrot. We had to go back to the market the next day. I learned my lesson!!

Was at a recording of a Steve Lamacq show, live band, maybe Kasabian? There was a crate of beers for the audience but seemingly no bottle openers… except the one on my keyring. I didn’t think to remove my actual keys before they got passed l, on so they were passed around maybe 50 people happily opening their beers while I mildly panicked until I got them back.

I was a saviour yes, but I don’t even like beer so couldn’t partake myself. Still adds to the good karma tally though so I guess it’s a win?

I speak three European languages other than English. I translated once in a medical emergency in one of those countries, but that's no surprise in the sense that I look very English.

What's stranger is that I've been approached by speakers of each of those languages whilst in the UK, and asked for directions or help. Never in touristy places, and there's nothing about me to indicate I might speak their languages!

I was once due to sing at a wedding and the organist didn't turn up. I ended up playing for the wedding...after just one organ lesson 🤣

I've since played the piano or organ at lots of church services when I've turned up at a new place and they don't have a pianist.

I also have a seriously messed up MH history, and this has twice helped me to sympathise with suicidal people sufficiently to get them to a safe place.

I work in travel and was on a plane that was very delayed and most of us were on connecting flights that we missed and had to be rebooked.

It took the virgin staff well over an hour to even open the office which seemed to be located in a secret part of the airport, and the queue for help was well over 2 hours long, during which time I was able to help people in the queue book overland journeys to their safaris to get them there on the same day Rather than having to spend a night in Joburg airport and fly the next day. So many passengers didn't realise they were actually only a 3-4 hour drive from their lodges.

Not exactly heroic, but I really hope some of them got to enjoy their evening game drives that night. I love the post that says you're put in the right place at the right time, because it really felt like that then.

I'm a nurse and managed to help a man choking on his steak who was going blue and on the verge of passing out. We had just paid the bill but were given a couple of cocktails gratis 🤩
Also delivered my friend's baby boy when she went into labour very quickly! It was a real privilege and I'm grateful every day it was a straightforward delivery.

I have a bit of a non-story. I did a first aid course at work then a week or so after was about 5 cars back on the motorway when a car crashed into the central reservation. I was driving and stopped and loudly exclaimed to DH that I was a first aider and ran off along the motorway in my flip flops. Lady needed zero first aid and was completely fine, I just rang 999 and as I'm useless at navigating I had zero clue where I was, so had to ask someone so I could tell the operator. Then went and got back in my car. Whenever any kind of traffic incident is discussed my DH likes to loudly declare that I seven is a first aider and we have a good laugh at me.

You're lucky! I've never had so much as a free drink.
Oh, I tell a lie, I did get flowers from a cyclist who I stopped to help after he'd been hit by a car. Though the miracle of that event was that I still had a car, and any money left after it. I actually saw the accident happen and pulled over immediately, grabbed my first aid kit and ran over. It was probably about 2 hours later after the guy had been taken to hospital and I'd spoken to the police that I went back to my car and realised that it was unlocked with the keys still in the ignition and my handbag was on the front seat. Amazingly everything was still there, which restored my faith in human nature somewhat.

My DIL has administered emergency care when we were in a restaurant in Spain, saved a man's life, meal was on the house and copious drinks too!
Next day we saw the family at the pool at our hotel and she was thanked very day for a week 🤣

I ❤️ this!

I had something like that in my north London GP surgery. A translator hadn’t shown up for a couple from an African country (I’m not sure I ever knew which), but we were able to figure out a sort of train translation between a bunch of us in the waiting room via, I think, their language into Yoruba, into French, then into English.

I was on a plane last year when they asked if they were any doctors on board. A lady had gone into labour and gave birth mid flight! Thankfully there are a group of Doctors on board travelling back from a holiday.

I was at a conference when it became apparent that the panel moderator hadn't shown up. No one knew what to do, so I stepped onto the stage and offered to moderate.

Fortunately it was on a subject I know a bit about and I'm an experienced moderator so when I didn't understand something I just turned to the next person and asked them "and do you agree with Mr X?".

It went really well. Lots of thanks afterwards but no freebies.

My sister was in a 'is there a doctor on the plane' situation. She is a doctor. But coincidentally met an acquaintance on the same plane who is also a doctor who took care of the situation!
I remember my father (yes, another doctor) stopping at the scene of a bad accident that had just happened to see if he could help (ambulance hadn't arrived yet), another occasion he saw two young boys fighting really hard in the ghetto area of the city and stopped and broke them up. He didn't think he acted. Brave man.
It must be a really good feeling that you could help the person out.

When I worked the doors (a bouncer if you will), I was off duty one night and out on the piss with all the ladies from rugby. We were dolled up to the eyeballs and in massive heels. Proper frocks and all sorts. One of the other girls also worked the doors from time to time and she and I were queuing at a bar about 9pm when a stool came flying past our faces. Then the massive brawl broke out.

No door staff, it was a random Sunday night, and the bar staff were panicked. My mate and I stuffed our purses in our bras (classy birds us) and got stuck in 😂

The various idiotic men didn't know what hit them - two very tall ladies had them in armlocks and out the fire exits in no time. We threw about twelve of them out before the manager decided shut down the whole bar, turned the lights on and music off and started asking everyone to leave. We got the team a couple of free rounds in a lock in though!

Physiotherapists deal with much more than injured knees, especially if they work in hospitals. There they cover respiratory, neuro and orthopaedics issues. When my DD is on emergency on call it's always to patients with respiratory problems. She has had to call an ambulance on more than one occasion whilst treating a patient at their home.

My SIL is an ER consultant but thanks to decades of shift work will sleep like the proverbial dead anywhere inc travelling - my then about age 5 nephew woke her up on a long haul flight to answer the Dr on board call to go a passenger collapsed. It was my brother on his way to the loo, fortunately nephew was none the wiser and brother OK!

My ds was called to a person on the floor in a busy public place who, it transpired, had broken their shoulder. That someone was me, so he got a surprise! As did i, frankly.

On a back road in the middle of Cumbria we once stopped to help a man who had been in a car accident. He was covered in glass from the windshield and a bit all over the place so we suspected head injury. He didn't want help but he needed it. As we were waiting for the ambulance with him a tractor came in the opposite direction and drove into and over my parked car! The driver said "well you'd been in an accident already".

Our car was flattened on one side and I was heartily relieved neither we nor our dog were in it. No good deed goes unpunished as they say!

When I got my car my Dad made sure I had basic knowledge of how to fix things on it and so I was quite confident in sorting somethings out myself. The car had a particular quirky fault to that model which meant the automatic choke didn't always turn off and so sometimes it had to be done manually. 10 years later I was walking by 2 teenage lads with the same model of car with the bonnet up, scratching their heads. I asked what the problem was, when they described it I told them it sounded like the choke and showed them how to turn it off. They were very impressed! (And I felt like a genius!)

Another time I was in a well known shop which I had worked for many years previously (not in that branch though). The lad on till was really struggling with the till as it wasn't doing what he wanted it to. Even though I had left years before the tills had not been changed so I was able to talk him through what to do and get the transaction finished. Once done he told me it was only his 3rd shift and he was glad I could help as he felt he was having to call the supervisor over too often and he was worried they thought he was stupid. It was really nice to be able to reassure him that we've all been there, and the tills ran on outdated software so most problems were due to that and not user error.

This isn't really the same thing at all, but I had a 'is there a teacher on the plane?' moment once on a long haul flight. I was making my way to use the toilet, and there was an unruly group of adults queuing up for said toilet. I honestly didn't give it a second's thought and I steamed in, saying loudly 'now, you come here, behind him, and you, you're better standing here'.. So I was basically supervising the queue and organising them into a neat line. Everyone obeyed me, too! I did then realise what a twat I was being and just sort of stood quietly in line waiting for my turn. Embarrassing. I blame it on the job.

I thought you were going to say (first example) was a First Aider 😁

i can imagine how satisfying it was.