Life in the Middle of Nowhere

The main reason there are 50 or 60 people on Midway is to operate and maintain the airport. It is open to any plane in an emergency situation that is in danger if it doesn't land here. Any plane needs radio permission to land before an attempt is made. Thursday night a situation developed that could only have happened here. A flight from Los Angeles to Guam wanted to land and evacuate a person who was critically ill with what appeared to be a heart attack. They were 2 hours past Honolulu and wanted to land here and leave the patient instead of returning 2 hours to Honolulu. Our Physicians assistant could deal with the immediate situation in our clinic but medivac would have been many hours away. The best interest of the patient in this situation was to get her as quickly as possible to a large hospital. Another concern, here on Midway, would be dealing with a deceased patient if that were to occur. It was a dilemma with neither Midway or the plane being ideal choices. So, instead of endangering 400+ people on the plane with a landing on a short runway in the middle of nowhere, the decision was made to return the plane to Honolulu with the patient on board. It was a serious situation for everyone involved that certainly brings some interesting images to mind concerning seatmates on an airplane.