PW 1629 Safety for the Life-Threatening Situation at Chiang Mai International Airport

Chiang Mai International Airport has been the forth busiest airport in Thailand. Approximately 10 million passengers visit the airport this year whereas the maximum capacity is 8 million passengers per year. Last year, the airport medical staff, only one doctor and two nurses, served 6491 patients (passengers and people who work at the airport). We worked hard to develop medical team, processes and equipment to prepare for emergency situations. Recently, two automatic external defibrillators (AED), donated by Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University and a private hospital, have been established in workplace for safety. Moreover, we are trained for cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) every year. On January 6, 2018, a visitor collapsed while waiting for the international arrival passengers. He had no pulse and conscious. The medical contingency plan was activated. He was resuscitated by not only medical providers, but also well-trained security staff who worked in the airport terminal. The AED was used to recovery the patient with cardiac arrest by delivering an electrical shock through the chest to the heart. Then, the patient was rapidly transferred to cardiac unit of Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai (Suandok) hospital. The good news is the patient is saved and still alive. The crowed places in Thailand, for instance, airports, bus stations, community malls, etc. are very important that AEDs should be provided. An AED does not only play as significant role in saving life, but staff should also be well-trained to do CPR. The limitation may be the management and budget of each organization. However, one life should be more valuable than any cost the organization spend. This situation creates a unique set of challenges that must be fully evaluated to ensure safety to life.