Firefighter/Paramedic Recalls Springing Into Action on Southwest Flight 1380

Editor's Note: On April 17, 2018, Jennifer Riordan, a 43-year-old vice president of community relations for Wells Fargo bank and mother of two children from Albuquerque, N.M., was pulled halfway out of an airplane window on Southwest Flight 1380 after the windows was hit by shrapnel from a failed engine just 20 minutes into the flight.
The seatbelt around her waist kept her from being completely sucked away, and it was through heroic efforts by a handful of brave passengers risking their own lives that Jennifer was pulled back into the plane so resuscitation attempts could begin.
What follows is the firsthand account from recently-certified paramedic and firefighter from Texas, Andrew Needum, who was one of the passengers who sprang into action that fateful day.
Read more about Needum and Southwest Flight 1380 and also about the inspiring rescuer reunion that occurred after the incident.

A Rescuer's Story
Destination New York City—the place of dreams and big money businesses. It almost has a mythical persona about it, as it’s pictured in so many movies and TV shows. It’s a destination that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.
This was the case for us. My wife Stephanie and I had discussed on numerous occasions that we would love to go to NYC and experience one of the largest cities in the world. We would have loved to have gone during Christmastime, but due to school and a limited travel budget we realized that this wouldn’t be possible.
Since...

Source: JEMS Operations - September 26, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Andrew Needum, NRP Tags: Exclusive Articles Operations Source Type: news