EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Other / Unknown
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Diverted; General Declared Emergency; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Human Factors
First officer; flight attendant; and I had completed a previous turn. Flight attendant had been performing her normal duties. During cruise flight on our final leg of the day from we heard a knock on the flight deck door. First officer looked through the peephole and informed me a passenger was at the door. I rang the flight attendant call button and the passenger picked up the inter phone. He informed us that our flight attendant was sick and was being attended to by another passenger.  He stated that she needed medical attention. I asked him to identify any passengers in the cabin with medical training to assist in helping flight attendant. I asked him to answer the phone when I called back for more information. I declared an emergency with ATC and requested a diversion to [a nearby airport]. We were cleared direct. I notified our dispatcher via ACARS of our diversion and situation. I rang the flight attendant call button and the same passenger as before answered. I asked him if the flight attendant was conscious. He said yes. I asked him what was wrong with her. He said she has a terrible headache and she was weak. I told him we would be landing in 10 minutes and we were going to have paramedics meet the plane.First officer and I began preparations for landing. I made a passenger announcement with our diversion information and instructions to stow personal belongings; fasten seatbelts; and remain seated for landing.A couple minutes later the flight attendant called us on the inter phone. She informed me that she had a terrible headache but she believed she was able to continue the flight. I told her the decision to divert had already been made and that we would be landing in eight minutes. I asked her to remain seated for the rest of the flight.I contacted [airport operations] and gave them our ETA. We made a visual approach; landed; and taxied to the gate. Paramedics were standing by and assisted flight attendant off of the airplane. I made a PA; spoke with the station manager; and then went to check on flight attendant. The paramedics recommended a medical evaluation and that flight attendant was refusing further treatment. They had given her and she was using an oxygen mask.I asked flight attendant how she was feeling. She said she had a headache but it was better than before. I told her that it would be a good idea to follow the paramedic's advice. I told her we couldn't continue the flight and that I feared she may not be safe if she had an ongoing medical issue. She then agreed to go with the paramedics to the hospital for a medical evaluation.In the mean time operations had communicated a plan to accommodate our passengers to first officer. He briefed me and we coordinated deplaning the passengers with station operations. I spoke with a flight attendant supervisor; a hub coordinator; and our dispatcher over the phone. We then went to speak with the passengers who assisted flight attendant.We met the passengers [at their seats]; thanked them for their help; and asked them to tell us what happened.Although she spoke broken English; the conversation with the [first] passenger was conducted mostly in Spanish with first officer. I understood some of what the passenger said and asked first officer to translate the rest. During that conversation the passenger stated that flight attendant showed signs of discomfort before the flight both through her facial expressions and body language. During the flight the passenger saw flight attendant in the galley with a bag of ice on her head and she was crying. When the passenger offered to help; flight attendant stated she was dying. The passenger noticed she was weak and became very scared for flight attendant's life. The [first] passenger instructed the [second] passenger to contact the pilots.The flight attendant suffered a serious medical condition.
When the Flight Attendant aboard an EMB-145 fell ill and incommunicado two passengers rose to the occasion managing to alert and contact the flight crew who diverted to a nearby airport where the flight attendant was met by EMT personnel and taken to the hospital for treatment.