KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Shawntay Harris, a Killeen nurse and trailblazer in the medical community, recently demonstrated her lifesaving skills in an unexpected place—30,000 feet in the air.
Harris, who became the first Black nurse inducted into the Academy of Emergency Nurses in 2023, put her training to use during a flight home from a nursing conference in Louisville earlier this month.
Hearing a flight attendant announce a medical emergency, Harris immediately sprang into action.
"Hearing that flight attendant saying ‘medical emergency,’ I jumped right up, jumped right in," Harris recalled.
The situation quickly unfolded as Harris and a team of 25 to 35 emergency nurses on the flight worked together to resuscitate a man who had suffered a seizure.
"Emergency nurses from all over the world were at that conference, and on that flight, we were able to help that patient. If you’d witnessed that, you would have never known that we’d never worked together," Harris explained.
Calming the man's family was also crucial, Harris said, noting their fears quickly turned to relief once they realized how lucky they were to have these resources on their flight.
"His family was very anxious. That is scary if you don’t know what you’re looking at. Once they realized they had nurses on the plane, you could see their anxiety decrease. And they were really, really grateful. They thanked us over, and over, and over again," Harris shared.
When the man suffered a second seizure, the flight crew called for an emergency landing in Arkansas to ensure he received proper treatment.
Harris said she’ll never forget that flight and she hopes the man she helped won’t either.
Reflecting on the experience, Harris expressed her gratitude for being able to make a difference.
"I would want to tell him that I am thankful that I was there, for him. I am so happy, that I was on that plane, and was able to help him have a better outcome, at least to get off of that plane, when it landed, alive," she said.
