By FireRescue1 Staff
LAS VEGAS — A firefighter was thanked by a crew and passengers after helping subdue a distraught patient on a flight.
Victoria News reported that 17-year veteran Oak Bay, British Columbia firefighter Brad Scott was flying from Seattle to Phoenix with his family on a Delta Airlines flight Dec. 20.
“At the beginning, I got talking to the flight attendant,” Scott said. “We started talking a bit which I think helped the situation because we were getting a rapport with her.”
Scott later heard some commotion in the back and saw a man confronting one of the flight attendants.
“With him being a male, them being two females, I just asked if she needed help and she said, ‘Yes, please,’” he said.
Scott and another passenger were able to subdue the distraught passenger.
“We ended up holding him so the flight attendant could get the zap strap handcuffs on him in the back galley, and settle him down,” Scott said. “It lasted about 15 minutes before we got him seated.”
The plane made an emergency landing in Las Vegas and the man was treated by first responders.
Scott credited his quick-thinking in the incident to his experience in the fire service.
“You don’t really think about it, but when something like this happens we are very fortunate to have the training we have,” Scott said. “The first thing is to try and de-escalate the situation and bring it down to normal. Anyone in our job would have done the same thing, and would feel comfortable doing because of how well trained we are.”