NINE years ago, a doctor boarded a helicopter with a critically ill baby, already exhausted after being awake for more than 24 hours.
There was no portable ventilator on board.
For the next two hours, Qistina manually ventilated the baby with an Ambu bag as they made their way to Kuching.
Qistina (@qissesky) recently took to Threads to recount the experience, saying she was post-call at the time and was still wearing the scrubs she had put on the night before.
The hospital was also short on manpower, leaving no other senior doctor available to escort the baby.
Some were on call, while others had just finished their shifts or were due to be on call the following day.
“I was on my post-call day, wearing the same scrubs since the night before. I hadn’t slept for more than 24 hours,” she wrote.
The baby was in serious condition, with chest tubes on both sides and requiring inotropes.
The baby’s mother was also on board, lying on a stretcher beneath the pilot’s seat.
Without a portable ventilator, Qistina had to keep manually ventilating the baby with an Ambu bag throughout the flight.
The journey was made even harder by her exhaustion.
She said a nurse had to keep a close eye on her in case fatigue caused her to stop manually ventilating the baby.
The nurse also had to monitor the baby’s lines and ensure the chest tubes did not become dislodged.
“My nurse had to keep a close eye on me in case my hand stopped manually ventilating the baby due to severe lack of sleep and fatigue,” Qistina wrote.
At the time, she said she did not even know she could make a claim for the assignment.
“Claim? I didn’t even know we had that,” she added.
The hospital later covered her one-night stay in Sarawak and her flight home after she submitted the invoice.
“I thought all of that was normal.”
Looking back, Qistina expressed that doctors often push themselves through difficult circumstances because their priority is doing what is best for their patients.
And on that flight, her own safety was not what occupied her mind.
None of them had signed anything before boarding the helicopter, she said. The possibility of a crash never crossed her mind.
“What were we worried about? Whether the baby would make it safely to Kuching,” she said.
Nine years later, that memory has taken on a different meaning following a recent helicopter crash that claimed the lives of her fellow healthcare workers.
Qistina said it was saddening that it took a helicopter crash and the deaths of her colleagues for the Health Ministry to take notice of the risks involved.
“It’s saddening that it took a helicopter crash and the passing of our comrades for the ministry to take notice,” she wrote.
“Let’s create more awareness. Change is long overdue.” – September 11, 2026
See video here https://www.facebook.com/reel/28199185909747764
