Narrative:

Just north of ZZZ airport; flight attendant (flight attendant) advised passenger is receiving cpr and that they were getting the aed prepared. I immediately hit the ACARS 'call me' prompt while gathering as much information from the reporting flight attendant as possible. I queried the flight attendant as to who was administering the cpr and this was unknown. I advised the flight attendant to tell this passenger to cease this activity until we (crew) can properly assess the medical condition of this passenger/situation. I was informed that there was no medical professional onboard which further enhanced my order to stop this activity until we can conference with medlink.ZZZZ was considered as the closest suitable for diversion however; ZZZZ3 was reported closest. ZZZZ1 and ZZZZ2 were other favorable options equally close to our position and ZZZZ1 was now our primary option.given the severity of what was initially reported; it wasn't operationally prudent to get medlink and dispatch in conference so we started working a plan for diversion into ZZZZ1. Meanwhile; I started receiving messages from dispatch with arinc comm options. In truth; I didn't expect to get a dispatch response so quickly so I attempted to make contact and advise. Both comm frequencies failed to work initially and I then tried the high frequency (HF) comm. I was able to make contact via HF with dispatch however the quality was 1x1-2x1. During this futile comm exercise; I was typing as much information into the ACARS and it appeared our sporadic comm with the additional ACARS messages was enough to convey the needed information. During this comm volley; I received another call from the flight attendant in the back and that the passenger was now ok. With 2 significantly different scenarios; I asked the 2 fas to come up from the back and relieve the flight attendant at 1L and have the lead to come up to the cockpit.off duty fireman saw this passenger pass out and immediately started cpr and chest compressions. In actuality; this made the passenger worse off as he wasn't in cardiac arrest as previously described. After the fas advised the passenger to cease from this activity; he began to feel better and was stable. The passenger was administered oxygen and remained stable. Unfortunately; the helper passenger's actions may have caused the passenger to soil his clothes as well as the row he was resting. Both parties were spanish speakers and spoke no english which made facilitation of treatment difficult. Yes; there were spanish speaker fas on board however; one of the speakers was at 1L and during a situation like this; they cannot leave the 1L position for security reasons. With this new information; I advised dispatch and medlink of this information and hoped they had received the comm. I couldn't get clear confirmation as the comm was 1x0; 1x1 at best. I typed the same information into the ACARS while working through the HF comm. We continued to our filed destination landed safely after a brief laser illumination on approach. Tower advised us of the possible laser illum prior to starting the final approach. The laser was illuminated for less than 5 seconds and caused no issue to our arrival. At the gate; medical staff greeted the airplane and the passenger was treated. O2 bottle usage and biohazard cleaning was entered into the logbook as well as a [report] for the incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain reported an unconscious passenger receiving CPR from an off duty fireman. While attempt to contact MEDLINK; the Captain ordered CPR stopped. The passenger recovered so the flight continued to the filed destination.

Narrative: Just north of ZZZ airport; Flight Attendant (FA) advised passenger is receiving CPR and that they were getting the AED prepared. I immediately hit the ACARS 'CALL ME' prompt while gathering as much information from the reporting FA as possible. I queried the FA as to who was administering the CPR and this was unknown. I advised the FA to tell this passenger to cease this activity until we (crew) can properly assess the medical condition of this passenger/situation. I was informed that there was no medical professional onboard which further enhanced my order to stop this activity until we can conference with MedLink.ZZZZ was considered as the closest suitable for diversion however; ZZZZ3 was reported closest. ZZZZ1 and ZZZZ2 were other favorable options equally close to our position and ZZZZ1 was now our primary option.Given the severity of what was initially reported; it wasn't operationally prudent to get MedLink and Dispatch in conference so we started working a plan for diversion into ZZZZ1. Meanwhile; I started receiving messages from Dispatch with ARINC comm options. In truth; I didn't expect to get a dispatch response so quickly so I attempted to make contact and advise. Both comm frequencies failed to work initially and I then tried the High Frequency (HF) comm. I was able to make contact via HF with dispatch however the quality was 1x1-2x1. During this futile comm exercise; I was typing as much information into the ACARS and it appeared our sporadic comm with the additional ACARS messages was enough to convey the needed information. During this comm volley; I received another call from the FA in the back and that the passenger was now ok. With 2 significantly different scenarios; I asked the 2 FAs to come up from the back and relieve the FA at 1L and have the lead to come up to the cockpit.Off duty fireman saw this passenger pass out and immediately started CPR and chest compressions. In actuality; this made the passenger worse off as he wasn't in cardiac arrest as previously described. After the FAs advised the passenger to cease from this activity; he began to feel better and was stable. The passenger was administered oxygen and remained stable. Unfortunately; the helper passenger's actions may have caused the passenger to soil his clothes as well as the row he was resting. Both parties were Spanish speakers and spoke no English which made facilitation of treatment difficult. Yes; there were Spanish speaker FAs on board however; one of the speakers was at 1L and during a situation like this; they cannot leave the 1L position for security reasons. With this new information; I advised Dispatch and Medlink of this information and hoped they had received the comm. I couldn't get clear confirmation as the comm was 1x0; 1x1 at best. I typed the same information into the ACARS while working through the HF comm. We continued to our filed destination landed safely after a brief laser illumination on approach. Tower advised us of the possible laser illum prior to starting the final approach. The laser was illuminated for less than 5 seconds and caused no issue to our arrival. At the gate; medical staff greeted the airplane and the passenger was treated. O2 bottle usage and Biohazard cleaning was entered into the logbook as well as a [report] for the incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.