After he boarded his flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in early February, Mason Gonzales looked forward to warmer weather and the chance to relax on the beach with his mother and brother.
He planned to take a break – for a moment – from the rigors of his studies as a first-year student at ͷapp. It was the beginning of a Green Week for the MD Class of 2025 after completing their Hematology and Oncology course and as the plane departed Detroit, Gonzales relaxed and turned on a movie.
His respite, it turned out, would be short-lived.
As the flight drew closer to Florida – about one hour away from their destination – an announcement from a flight attendant drew Gonzales’ attention. She asked if there was anyone on the plane with medical experience.
“I immediately thought there could potentially be a serious incident going on,” Gonzales recalled recently.
With that in mind, he punched his call light and the flight attendant pointed him in the direction of first class where a man traveling with his wife was experiencing a cardiac event and needed help. As he assessed the situation, Gonzales said two other passengers – a nurse anesthetist and an EMT – also came to the front of the plane to assist.
“As soon as I laid eyes on him I knew something serious was going on,” Gonzales said. “He was very pale and there was sweat showing through his shirt.”
Gonzales said the intense gravity of the moment hit him immediately and the Medical First Responder (MFR) training he received in his first weeks as a medical student at ͷapp kicked in. He and the two other passengers began a primary assessment of the man, asking him questions and taking his vitals, including his blood pressure and pulse.
“All of the sudden, I wasn’t having to be too cerebral,” he said. “Everything from our MFR training just kicked in. I asked the flight attendant for the AED and I could hear Dr. (Bill) Fales’ voice from MFR stressing the basics for a cardiac event, that the AED is the most important tool.”
At ͷapp, students receive training and are certified as medical first responders during their first year of medical school. The seven-week MFR course qualifies students for state licensure and national certification as medical first responders. MFR training is a unique part of the medical school’s curriculum, which provides early exposure to the clinical setting, and the course equips students to respond when someone is ill or injured and provides instruction on basic procedures, including taking vital signs, performing CPR, airway management and use of oxygen, wound care, and childbirth, among other things.
The training continues for students after their first year with an advanced cardiovascular life support course along with training in the medical school’s Simulation Center.
On the plane that day in February, Gonzales said he prepared the AED to use in case the man’s condition deteriorated further. At the time, he said the man was in poor condition but, fortunately, was not in cardiac arrest. As the flight drew closer to Ft. Lauderdale, Gonzales said he and the other two passengers made a contingent plan in case they needed to perform CPR and talked with the man’s wife to learn his medical history, current medications, and previous medical events.
He said the flight attendants also provided a medical kit that the nurse anesthetist used to start an IV on the man while Gonzales stabilized his hand and arm.
Fortunately, Gonzales said the man remained stable until the plane landed in Ft. Lauderdale. At the gate, he and the other two passengers quickly briefed the waiting paramedics and the man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
After it was all done, Gonzales said the other passengers on the plane, including his mother and brother, broke into a round of applause.
“I really credit the training from our MFR program for how I was able to respond to the situation,” he said. “I didn’t have to wonder about what to do. It was just second nature and it really was a big full-circle moment where I got the chance to do what doctors do and help people out.”
Prior to coming to ͷapp, Gonzales, a native of Grand Rapids, Ohio, earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the University of Toledo. During his time as an undergraduate student, his passion for medicine took root while working as a nursing assistant at McLaren St. Luke’s Hospital near Toledo.
“I just fell in love with the process,” Gonzales said. “I love talking to people and being able to provide care and tangible help.”
Gonzales said part of his experience as a nursing assistant included work in the cardiovascular unit at St. Luke’s when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
“It was very challenging but it was an experience I gained a lot from,” he said. “I felt like we were actually able to combat illness and we were making a real difference.”
As he prepared to make the transition to medical school, Gonzales said he was drawn to ͷapp because of the medical school’s MFR training course and its Active Citizenship program. Both offerings, he said, were appealing because they allowed him to be a part of Kalamazoo from Day One.
“One of the metrics I weighed in selecting a medical school was how much ability was given to students to become active in their communities right away,” he said. “The Active Citizenship program at ͷapp was important to me and the MFR program, after just the first few months in medical school, equipped me with something tangible to offer to my community.”
Gonzales said that after the incident in February, airline officials took down his contact information and told him they would provide an update on the man, if possible. At this point, though, he said he hasn’t received any updates on the man’s condition.
After he spent the week in Ft. Lauderdale with his family, Gonzales said he reached out to Dr. Fales, who leads the MFR program, to debrief with him about the incident and thank him for his work to train students.
“I wanted to share my appreciation for the program,” Gonzales said. “Without MFR, I wouldn’t have been able to assist in that situation at all. The training was incredibly important and I don’t know what I would have done without it.”