Hero of the Week: MD Physician Assistant Delivers Life-Saving Shock To Doctor On Flight From Hawaii

A Howard County, Maryland physician assistant has been credited for saving a doctor's life on their flight from Hawaii to California. 

Photo: Emily Haley (Inset), an emergency room physician assistant saved Dr. Jacquelyn Lacera, 61, from Riverside, California, who fell ill an hour into a flight, (Jenna Fisher/Patch)

MD Physician Assistant Delivers Life-Saving Shock To Doctor On Flight From Hawaii 

 Kristin Danley-Greiner, Patch, Apr 9, 2025 

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A physician assistant from Howard County has been credited with saving the life of a fellow medical professional on a flight from Hawaii to California, according to multiple media reports.

Emily Haley, an emergency room physician assistant at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center in Baltimore, was returning from a vacation on the Big Island with her family, according to WBAL. A call for medical assistance was made after Dr. Jacquelyn Lacera, 61, from Riverside, California, fell ill an hour into the flight, becoming nauseous and sweaty.

Lacera began vomiting and had "very bad chest pains," she told WBAL. Haley immediately responded to the call for help and checked Lacera's vital signs, quickly realizing the doctor was experiencing cardiac issues.

The two women worked to save Lacera's life. Haley gave her fluids and oxygen, but Lacera's status was still declining.

The plane didn't have an EKG machine to monitor heart function, and a pulse oximeter didn’t work.

“We got her Apple Watch, attached it to her wrist. It just said her heart rate was over 160. That made my heart rate drop a little bit,” Haley told WMAR.

So, Haley used an automated external defibrillator — typically used to shock a person's heart when they are unconscious or sedated — to help Lacera's heart beat normally again.

“She goes, ‘You wouldn’t believe how much that hurt,’ but I felt relief because she was alive. The fact that she was screaming was a good sign,” Haley told WMAR.

Once the plane landed in Los Angeles, Lacera was rushed to the hospital, where she underwent several procedures and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

Lacera later told USA Today the episode reminded her of her sister's early cardiac death at 37.

"It was terrible, like 10 out of 10 chest pain," she told USA TODAY. "I've had a child – and I can take pain – but this was horrible."