Latest news with #medicalmission
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Meant to be': Oklahoma cardiologist treats man's heart attack symptoms mid-flight
An Oklahoma cardiologist had a full circle moment when a Dutch man complained of chest pains on their shared flight. Dr. TJ Trad, a cardiologist at Stillwater Medical Center and founder of the nonprofit Cura for the World Foundation, was traveling home from a medical mission trip in Uganda when he was awoken on the flight to Amsterdam, CNN reported. A man was complaining of chest pain and needed a doctor, he was told by a nurse on his team. Trad found the man drenched in sweat, and he asked the doctor, "Am I going to die?" "Not today," Trad told him before getting to work. Trad had the medications needed to treat a heart attack on hand — including nitroglycerin, Aspirin, Plavix, metoprolol and lisinopril — part of the around two dozen medications he carries with him on medical mission in case anyone on his team has an emergency. But Trad, 43, also had a pocket-sized electrocardiogram, which he carries with him since having his own heart scare last year. One February morning in 2024, just days before he was scheduled to fly to Uganda for a planned medical mission trip, Trad said he was doing a procedure on a patient when he began having chest pain. He was experiencing an 80% blockage in one of his arteries — he had a stent placed that same day and canceled his trip to Uganda. As a way to mark the one year anniversary of his cardiac scare, Trad finished the climb to Everest Base Camp at the beginning of March. "I believe that everything happens for a reason, as cliche as that might sound," Trad said. "Maybe the event that occurred a year ago was the nidus for me to be on that specific plane to help that specific person. Every time, let's say something negative or positive happens, it's good to kind of sit back and reflect on what's the downstream effect of that? So yeah, I feel like we were meant to be on that flight to help." Not only does Trad believe he was meant to be on the flight to help the Dutch man, but he has the same sense regarding the trip to Uganda. While on their trip, Trad met an 8-month-old girl with a 7.8 millimeter ventricular septal defect. The funds have already been raised to cover her heart surgery, which should be taking place soon, he said. "What are the chances that a cardiologist would appear at that specific time in her life ... it's one of those things," Trad said. "It's not a coincidence." The man on the plane told Trad his chest pain, on a scale of 1 to 10, was a 10. It was a pain Trad had warned his patients about, but also one he had felt himself. About 15 minutes after Trad gave him medication, the man's chest pain was gone. But the doctor and nurse continually monitored his symptoms, checking his heart rhythm every five to 10 minutes for the duration of the flight. "After his symptoms subsided, I told the pilot, 'We bought time to get to Amsterdam so that he can go to the hospital there,'" Trad said. CNN reported that the man was examined for 12 hours at the hospital and was not diagnosed with a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism — possibly as a result of Trad's treatment of the patient. Before going their separate ways, the man's wife told Trad, "You're our angel in the sky." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma doctor treats heart attack symptoms on flight home from Uganda
Arab News
19-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Pakistan Hajj mission delivers vital health care to pilgrims with over 300 staffers
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Hajj Medical Mission (PHMM), which comprises over 300 doctors and paramedics, has treated more than 11,000 pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah over the past three weeks, the PHMM head said on Sunday. This year's Hajj is expected to take place between June 4 and June 9, with nearly 112,620 Pakistanis set to perform the annual pilgrimage. Of these, approximately 89,000 will travel under the government scheme, while 23,620 will go through private tour operators. 'The Pakistan Hajj Medical Mission 2025 consisted of 301 doctors and paramedical staff from both civilian and armed forces backgrounds, including 72 lady doctors and female health workers,' Col. Dr. Shaheer Jamal, the PHMM director, told Arab News over the phone from Makkah. 'We have treated over 11,194 pilgrims so far and are currently attending to an average of about 2,000 pilgrims daily in Makkah and 40 in Madinah, mostly suffering from dehydration.' The mission includes medical specialists, surgeons, cardiologists, orthopedic specialists, gynecologists, dermatologists, ENT specialists, psychiatrists, pharmacists, public health specialists and physiotherapists, according to Dr. Jamal. It has established two hospitals, one each in Makkah and Madinah, along with nine dispensaries in Makkah and two in Madinah. 'Separate wards of 30 beds each had been established for men and women in the central hospital in Makkah, while in Madinah, a small hospital with 11 beds was set up,' he said, adding that their teams were working in three shifts to provide 24/7 care to pilgrims. Other departments at the mission include emergency, isolation ward, pharmacy, pathology, minor OT, dental, and radiology, the official added. For patients needing further medical assistance, Dr. Jamal said, the mission had reached an agreement with the Saudi German Hospital which has been treating Pakistani pilgrims both in Makkah and Madinah. 'So far, we have referred 30 patients to the Saudi German Hospital in Makkah and Madinah,' he shared. The PHMM chief said the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Ministry of Health have extended full support in the establishment of the hospitals and the transfer of medicines and medical equipment to the Kingdom. He said all medicines had been tested before being brought to Saudi Arabia and were being provided to pilgrims free of cost. The medical plan for the core Hajj days in Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah will follow a multi-layered approach, according to the official. Saudi health authorities will assume primary responsibility of providing comprehensive health care services to all pilgrims. 'However, to support Pakistani pilgrims specifically, the Pakistan Hajj Medical Mission deployed its own medical staff in Mina with the first aid kits to provide initial medical assistance, ensuring timely primary care before referring patients to larger Saudi facilities, if needed,' Dr. Jamal said. Due to extreme weather conditions, the mission has proactively prepared and is disseminating educational materials specifically designed to guide pilgrims on how to prevent heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses. 'This guidance includes advice on hydration, appropriate clothing, recognizing symptoms, and seeking timely medical help,' he said. The South Asian country launched its Hajj flight operation on Apr. 29, which will continue till May 31.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A man had heart attack symptoms on a flight. A cardiologist and a pocket-sized tool on board may have helped save his life
Oklahoma cardiologist Dr. TJ Trad was fast asleep on his flight from Uganda last month when a member of his team woke him up to say someone needed a doctor. Trad rushed over to the passenger who needed help to find a man drenched with sweat and complaining of chest pain. The man looked at the doctor and anxiously asked, 'am I going to die?' 'Not today,' Trad told the man. He believed that the man in front of him was having a heart attack – pain the doctor was intimately familiar with after surviving one just last year. Trad also knew he had the tools that might help save the man's life if it was a heart attack: medication and medical devices he had on him because he was flying home from a medical mission trip in Uganda with Cura for the World – an organization he founded that builds clinics in areas of need. He also had a pocket-sized electrocardiogram, or ECG – something he never leaves home without after his own heart attack. The device, about the size of a credit card, would be a crucial tool in understanding the man's symptoms. Now he just had to get to work. It was three hours into the April 29 KLM flight to Amsterdam when Trad was thrust into emergency response mode. The patient said that on a scale of one to 10, his chest pain was at a 10. 'Do we land right now?' Trad recalled the man's wife nervously asking. Trad realized the first step was to calm down the Dutch couple, nearby passengers and flight crew. 'I think our training is so extensive that you almost get trained to be the captain of the ship and to calm everyone around you,' he said. Trad then created a makeshift emergency room across a row of airplane seats, laid the man down with airplane pillows and propped his feet up to bring blood back to his heart. After ruling out blood sugar and blood clot complications, the doctor used a 12-lead ECG from the medical mission trip to assess whether the man was having a heart attack. He quickly gave him five medications typically used to treat heart attacks. Trad then used his personal ECG – an electrocardiogram that measures the heart's electrical activity – to help monitor the man's heart for abnormal beats, or arrhythmias. Trad has kept the device, a KardiaMobile card, in his wallet ever since his heart attack last year in case he has another cardiac event. 'The later manifestation of a heart attack is an arrhythmia. That's how people die,' Trad explained. Although the 12-lead ECG was crucial to confirm the man was showing symptoms of a heart attack, the doctor said the card allowed him to continually monitor for arrhythmias in the three hours that followed. The man put his thumbs on the card, and it transmitted data on his heart activity to Trad's app via Bluetooth. Within 45 minutes after he took the medication, the man's chest pain and heart rate started to get better, the doctor said. Trad's own heart attack had prevented him from going on his medical mission trip to Uganda in February 2024, leading him to go on a make-up trip that put him on the same plane as the man he helped save. The doctor said his heart attack led to him being in the right place at the right time. 'I believe everything happens for a reason, I truly do,' he said. During the ordeal, the pilot asked if they should divert the flight to Tunisia after speaking with the KLM on-ground physician, but Trad assured the crew that the patient was stable enough to make it to Amsterdam. 'We had a nurse that was taking his vitals every 10 to 15 minutes… and we had him hooked up to all these things… if we would have landed in Tunisia, they wouldn't have done anything differently other than obviously taking him to get a heart cath,' Trad said, referring to the catheterization procedure that allows doctors to examine or treat the heart and coronary arteries. The man was stable throughout the remaining two hours of the flight. His chest pain returned as the plane was about to land, but additional medication resolved it, Trad said. The man's wife told CNN that Trad and a nurse helped prevent her husband's condition from getting worse and did an 'unforgettable job.' Once they landed, the man thanked the doctor and his wife hugged him 'very, very tight.' 'She said that you're our angel in the sky,' Trad recalled. KLM told CNN the plane landed safely at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, where an ambulance was waiting to take the man to a nearby hospital. The man's wife said he is doing reasonably well considering the traumatic event. The hospital examined him for 12 hours and did not diagnose him with a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism, she told CNN. Trad believes this could be because of his timely treatment of the patient. After having to cancel his Uganda trip last year because of his own heart attack, Trad said that helping save this man feels like a full circle moment for him. He told the man it was a pleasure taking care of him and wished him the best before he ran to catch his connecting flight home.
CNN
18-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
A man had heart attack symptoms on a flight. A cardiologist and a pocket-sized tool on board may have helped save his life
Oklahoma cardiologist Dr. TJ Trad was fast asleep on his flight from Uganda last month when a member of his team woke him up to say someone needed a doctor. Trad rushed over to the passenger who needed help to find a man drenched with sweat and complaining of chest pain. The man looked at the doctor and anxiously asked, 'am I going to die?' 'Not today,' Trad told the man. He believed that the man in front of him was having a heart attack – pain the doctor was intimately familiar with after surviving one just last year. Trad also knew he had the tools that might help save the man's life if it was a heart attack: medication and medical devices he had on him because he was flying home from a medical mission trip in Uganda with Cura for the World – an organization he founded that builds clinics in areas of need. He also had a pocket-sized electrocardiogram, or ECG – something he never leaves home without after his own heart attack. The device, about the size of a credit card, would be a crucial tool in understanding the man's symptoms. Now he just had to get to work. It was three hours into the April 29 KLM flight to Amsterdam when Trad was thrust into emergency response mode. The patient said that on a scale of one to 10, his chest pain was at a 10. 'Do we land right now?' Trad recalled the man's wife nervously asking. Trad realized the first step was to calm down the Dutch couple, nearby passengers and flight crew. 'I think our training is so extensive that you almost get trained to be the captain of the ship and to calm everyone around you,' he said. Trad then created a makeshift emergency room across a row of airplane seats, laid the man down with airplane pillows and propped his feet up to bring blood back to his heart. After ruling out blood sugar and blood clot complications, the doctor used a 12-lead ECG from the medical mission trip to assess whether the man was having a heart attack. He quickly gave him five medications typically used to treat heart attacks. Trad then used his personal ECG – an electrocardiogram that measures the heart's electrical activity – to help monitor the man's heart for abnormal beats, or arrhythmias. Trad has kept the device, a KardiaMobile card, in his wallet ever since his heart attack last year in case he has another cardiac event. 'The later manifestation of a heart attack is an arrhythmia. That's how people die,' Trad explained. Although the 12-lead ECG was crucial to confirm the man was showing symptoms of a heart attack, the doctor said the card allowed him to continually monitor for arrhythmias in the three hours that followed. The man put his thumbs on the card, and it transmitted data on his heart activity to Trad's app via Bluetooth. Within 45 minutes after he took the medication, the man's chest pain and heart rate started to get better, the doctor said. Trad's own heart attack had prevented him from going on his medical mission trip to Uganda in February 2024, leading him to go on a make-up trip that put him on the same plane as the man he helped save. The doctor said his heart attack led to him being in the right place at the right time. 'I believe everything happens for a reason, I truly do,' he said. During the ordeal, the pilot asked if they should divert the flight to Tunisia after speaking with the KLM on-ground physician, but Trad assured the crew that the patient was stable enough to make it to Amsterdam. 'We had a nurse that was taking his vitals every 10 to 15 minutes… and we had him hooked up to all these things… if we would have landed in Tunisia, they wouldn't have done anything differently other than obviously taking him to get a heart cath,' Trad said, referring to the catheterization procedure that allows doctors to examine or treat the heart and coronary arteries. The man was stable throughout the remaining two hours of the flight. His chest pain returned as the plane was about to land, but additional medication resolved it, Trad said. The man's wife told CNN that Trad and a nurse helped prevent her husband's condition from getting worse and did an 'unforgettable job.' Once they landed, the man thanked the doctor and his wife hugged him 'very, very tight.' 'She said that you're our angel in the sky,' Trad recalled. KLM told CNN the plane landed safely at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, where an ambulance was waiting to take the man to a nearby hospital. The man's wife said he is doing reasonably well considering the traumatic event. The hospital examined him for 12 hours and did not diagnose him with a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism, she told CNN. Trad believes this could be because of his timely treatment of the patient. After having to cancel his Uganda trip last year because of his own heart attack, Trad said that helping save this man feels like a full circle moment for him. He told the man it was a pleasure taking care of him and wished him the best before he ran to catch his connecting flight home.
Al Jazeera
13-05-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
Medical professionals must speak out and act on Gaza now
I had closely followed the genocidal war in Gaza for nine months when an opportunity came around to volunteer as part of a medical mission organised by the United Nations, World Health Organization and the Palestinian American Medical Association. As a trained nephrologist, a doctor who treats patients with kidney disease, I felt there was a critical need for specialised medical care amid the collapse of the healthcare system in Gaza and the high number of medical specialists who had been killed. I also felt it was my duty as a Muslim to help the people of Gaza. Islam teaches us that whoever saves one life, it is as if he had saved all of humanity; taking care of others is an act of worship, and standing up against injustice is a moral obligation. I believe my degrees are not meant to simply hang on the walls of an air-conditioned office or help me drive the nicest car or live in an expensive neighbourhood. They are a testament to the fact that I have taken an oath to dedicate my expertise to the service of humanity, to maintain the utmost respect for human life and to offer my medical knowledge and compassion to those in need. So on July 16, I departed for Gaza with a few other medics. We entered the strip through the Karem Abu Salem crossing. We went from observing the prosperity, comfort and wealth of the Israeli side to recoiling at the destruction, devastation and misery of the Palestinian side. We basically saw what apartheid looks like. On our short trip through southern Gaza to reach our destination in Khan Younis, we saw many buildings bombed, damaged or destroyed. Homes, schools, shops, hospitals, mosques – you name it. The amount of rubble was sickening. To this day, I can't unsee the landscapes of destruction I witnessed in Gaza. We were accommodated in Al-Nasser Hospital because it was too dangerous to stay at any other place. We were welcomed and cared for so much that I felt embarrassed. We were seen as saviours. I treated patients with kidney problems, worked as a primary care physician and sometimes helped during mass casualty events in the emergency room. Dialysis requires clean water, sterile supplies, reliable electricity, medications and equipment that must be maintained and replaced – none of which was guaranteed under the Israeli blockade. Each dialysis session was a challenge. Every delay increased the risk of my patients dying. Many of them did die – a fact I struggled to accept, knowing that under normal circumstances, many of them could have been saved and lived normal lives. I remember the smiling face of one of my patients, Waleed, a young man who suffered from kidney failure caused by early-onset high blood pressure, a condition that, with access to proper treatment, could have been managed appropriately. Dialysis was Waleed's lifeline, but he couldn't get an adequate number of sessions due to the Israeli blockade causing severe shortages of medical supplies. Malnutrition and worsening living conditions only accelerated his decline. I remember how short of breath he was, his body overloaded with fluid and his blood pressure dangerously high. And yet, every time I saw him, Waleed greeted me with a warm smile, his spirit somehow intact, his mother always by his side. A few months after I left Gaza, Waleed passed away. Another patient of mine was Hussein, a gentle, kind-hearted, deeply respected man. His children cared for him with love and dignity. He suffered from severe hypokalaemia and acidosis: His body's potassium levels were dangerously low, and acid built up to toxic levels. To address his condition, he needed basic medications: potassium supplements and sodium bicarbonate pills. These were simple, inexpensive, life-saving medicines, and yet, the Israeli blockade did not allow them in. Because he could not find these pills, Hussein was hospitalised multiple times for intravenous potassium supplementation. Despite his immense suffering, Hussein remained gracious, brave and full of faith. When speaking, he always repeated the phrase Alhamdulillah (praise be to God). He passed away a few weeks ago, I was told. Waleed and Hussein should be here – smiling, laughing, living happily with their families. Instead, they became casualties of siege and silence. These are two of so many tragic stories I know of and I witnessed. So many beautiful lives that could have been saved were lost. Despite this grim reality, my colleagues in Gaza continue to do their utmost for their patients. These are medics who are bruised in every way. They are not only battling the daily struggles of life like all other Palestinians in Gaza but also witnessing daily horrors of headless babies, amputated limbs, fully burned human beings and sometimes the lifeless remains of their own loved ones. Imagine working with no anaesthesia, limited pain medications, very few antibiotics. Imagine surgeons scrubbing with plain water, children undergoing amputations with no sedation, full-body burns patients' dressings being changed with no pain relief. Still these healthcare heroes just keep going. One of the nurses I worked with, Arafat, made a deep impression on me. He was living in a makeshift shelter with multiple family members. It offered no protection against the elements – the cold winter, the scorching heat or the drenching rain. He starved – like all other Palestinians in Gaza – losing 15kg (33lb) in nine months. He walked 2km to 3km (1 to 2 miles) every day to work with worn-out sandals, facing the danger of Israeli drones bombing or shooting him in the street. And yet, the smile never left his face. He took care of more than 280 dialysis patients, treating them with care, attentively listening to their anxious families and uplifting his colleagues with light humour. I felt so small next to heroes like Arafat. His and his colleagues' resilience and persistence were unbelievable. While in Gaza, I had the opportunity to visit Al-Shifa Hospital with a UN delegation. What once was Gaza's largest and most vital medical centre was reduced to ruins. The hospital that was once a symbol of hope and healing had become a symbol of death and destruction, of the deliberate dismantling of healthcare. It was beyond heartbreaking to see its charred, bombed-out remains. I stayed in Gaza for 22 days. It was an absolute honour to visit, serve and learn life from the resilient people of Gaza. Their relentless courage and determination will stay with me until I die. Despite witnessing what I could have never imagined, I did not have the urge to leave. I wanted to stay. Back in the United States, I felt profound guilt that I left behind my colleagues and my patients, that I did not stay, that I did not do enough. Feeling this constant heartache, I cannot understand the growing number of people who are accustomed to the daily reports of Palestinian deaths and images of torn bodies and starving children. As human beings and as health workers, we cannot quit on Gaza. We cannot stay silent and passive. We must speak out and act on the devastation of healthcare and attacks on our colleagues in the Gaza Strip. Already fewer and fewer healthcare workers are being allowed to enter Gaza on medical missions. The current blockade has prevented all medical supplies from going in. We, as healthcare professionals, must mobilise to demand an immediate lifting of the siege and free access to medical missions. We must not stop volunteering to help the struggling medical teams in Gaza. Such acts of speaking out and volunteering give our colleagues in Gaza the hope and comfort that they have not been abandoned. Let us not allow Gaza to be just a symbol of destruction. Instead, let it be the example of unbreakable spirit. Stand, speak and act – so history remembers not just the tragedy but also the triumph of human compassion. Let us uphold human dignity. Let us tell Gaza, you are not alone! Humanity is on your side! The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
