A Howard County healthcare professional established an unexpected bond with a California woman following a medical emergency during their flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles.

On the last day of their family vacation in Hawaii, Emily Haley’s husband cut his foot in the water. The family drove to urgent care, received treatment and later joked that he would sit in first class due to his injury.

Little did she know it would be another first-class passenger who would need her care.

An hour and a half into their American Airlines flight on Feb. 5, a flight attendant made a call overhead looking for medical assistance.

Haley, an emergency department physician assistant at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, responded to the call before being whisked away to first class. There, she met a woman sitting on the bathroom toilet, sweaty and holding her chest.

Haley jumped into action, asking the woman questions, later finding out she was a physician.

Jacquelyn Lacera, a 61-year-old doctor at Riverside Medical Clinic in California, was returning home from a one-week honeymoon in Hawaii when she became ill during the flight.

Haley attempted multiple methods of care, but couldn’t receive a clear reading on Lacera’s condition.

“I was kind of a little bit distressed at this point,” she said. “Basically I had no information. I just knew that she looked terrible.”

Haley and the flight crew managed to gather a reading from Lacera’s Apple watch showing her heart rate was 120 and increasing.

Haley continued her assessment, communicating with Lacera along the way, but decided it was time to step things up. She administered fluids to Lacera, monitored her blood pressure and had her lay down, but Lacera’s condition steadily declined. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, Lacera said what scared her the most was the feeling that she was slipping away and could become unresponsive.

Haley told Lacera she might need to use a defibrillator, to which Lacera replied, “Let’s do it.”

“At this point, I think we both knew how dire the situation was,” Haley said.

The shock worked, stabilizing Lacera enough to return to her seat in first class while the plane landed. Haley was asked to sit with Lacera to monitor her condition, grabbing a seat in first class, the seat her husband thought he would get.

“She was incredibly knowledgeable, incredibly calm and she did everything right,” Lacera said about Haley. “I was so thankful to her. It was like God sent me an angel in this whole situation because it could have turned out very bad.”

Once the plane landed, emergency responders arrived, taking Lacera with them.

“I remember walking out and she just leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek and I was just touched,” Haley said. “It was just a crazy moment.”

Despite everything working out, Haley and Lacera said this moment brought their attention to the need for additional medical equipment on planes.

“We’re proud of the incredible care our crew members show our customers in the air every day – especially when passengers experience an in-flight medical event,” said American Airlines in an email statement to The Sun. “Our pilots and flight attendants complete rigorous and regular training to support the customer in need and any onboard medical professionals who lend their expertise, and importantly, quickly and safely divert the aircraft when needed. Key to their response is the onboard emergency medical kit that includes all FAA-required equipment, material and medications — exceeds those requirements.”

The Federal Aviation Administration requires all commercial aircraft to be equipped with one emergency medical kit that includes a minimum of 25 items like syringes, IV fluid and more, as well as a first aid kit and an automated external defibrillator.

The FAA requires crewmembers receive instruction on the items within the medical kit, its usage and where it can be found on the aircraft. In addition, the agency requires crewmembers receive training every 24 months on proper use of a defibrillator and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

“We have this in hospitals all the time where there’s room to improve,” Haley said. “I feel like this is probably one of those opportunities where hopefully we can learn from this and hopefully the airline can improve and we can all take something away from it.”

Lacera wrote a letter to her local congressional representatives expressing concern on the status of medical emergency items on planes, pushing for improvement, but she hasn’t received a response.

Since the incident, Haley hasn’t had much time to process what happened, but is grateful Lacera took the time to share updates on the recovery process.

Lacera began cardiac rehab this week and hopes to return to work soon.

“I felt kind of proud that I played such a pivotal role in her life,” Haley said. “I just felt touched.”

Have a news tip? Contact Shaela Foster at sfoster@baltsun.com.