Narrative:

Enroute to ZZZ in cruise; I happened to be monitoring the PA (incidentally) on my headset. I heard the flight attendant make a PA for medical personnel to ring their call button. A few moments later; we got a call from the flight attendants. The captain answered. The flight attendant told him that a passenger was unconscious in the back. We began to prepare for a possible medical diversion. I pulled up the qrg medical guide and diversion planning guide and we starting reviewing. The flight attendant called back a short time later and said that medical personnel on board believed the passenger was having a stroke and recommended landing. We immediately sent a message via ACARS and started discussing diversion option while trying to reach dispatch and medical. The captain began pulling weather; etc. After not getting a response from dispatch; we sent another message via ACARS and continued discussing options. I'm not sure how much time went by; but it was too long. We sent one more 'call me' via ACARS and I queried ATC to get an arinc frequency. She was able to provide one. I called arinc and requested our dispatch and desk number. At this point; the situation in the back with the passenger had not improved. We got dispatch on the radio and tried to discuss what was happening and requested medical; but we were having extreme difficulty understanding and communicating with dispatch. Given the medical situation and our inability to adequately communicate with dispatch; the captain suggested that we go ahead and divert to ZZZ. I fully agreed with his suggestion and he implemented the command decision. We diverted and landed. We had to work around some weather and set up for the approach. Also; [we requested priority handling]. We fully prepared; briefed; ran checklists as well as referred to the diversion guide for guidance. All items were completed and we kept our speed up below 10;000 ft. As we felt the [situation] warranted expediting to the field; we informed ATC of our speed.the major concern in this incident was our inability to effectively communicate with dispatch. We never received an answer to our 3 'call me' ACARS messages; and when we got them on the radio; we couldn't understand due to poor radio coverage. In the debrief; we discussed it and both expressed that we felt like we were somewhat on our own making the decisions. Given our resources and time constraints; we chose ZZZ as we felt it was a close 'sure bet' for providing care; as well as suitable to land; on the list of serviced airports; etc. It would have been helpful to converse with dispatch on these decisions; and also; to speak with medical prior to diverting; but it wasn't feasible given the comms. Given the challenges; the captain did an absolute superb job commanding the situation. I would say that our crew effectiveness and CRM was excellent and we worked the problem together successfully.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 pilot reported an inflight passenger medical emergency that resulted in an immediate diversion.

Narrative: Enroute to ZZZ in cruise; I happened to be monitoring the PA (incidentally) on my headset. I heard the Flight Attendant make a PA for medical personnel to ring their call button. A few moments later; we got a call from the Flight Attendants. The Captain answered. The Flight Attendant told him that a passenger was unconscious in the back. We began to prepare for a possible medical diversion. I pulled up the QRG Medical Guide and Diversion Planning Guide and we starting reviewing. The Flight Attendant called back a short time later and said that medical personnel on board believed the passenger was having a stroke and recommended landing. We immediately sent a message via ACARS and started discussing diversion option while trying to reach Dispatch and Medical. The Captain began pulling weather; etc. After not getting a response from Dispatch; we sent another message via ACARS and continued discussing options. I'm not sure how much time went by; but it was too long. We sent one more 'call me' via ACARS and I queried ATC to get an ARINC frequency. She was able to provide one. I called ARINC and requested our dispatch and desk number. At this point; the situation in the back with the passenger had not improved. We got Dispatch on the radio and tried to discuss what was happening and requested Medical; but we were having extreme difficulty understanding and communicating with dispatch. Given the medical situation and our inability to adequately communicate with dispatch; the Captain suggested that we go ahead and divert to ZZZ. I fully agreed with his suggestion and he implemented the command decision. We diverted and landed. We had to work around some weather and set up for the approach. Also; [we requested priority handling]. We fully prepared; briefed; ran checklists as well as referred to the diversion guide for guidance. All items were completed and we kept our speed up below 10;000 ft. as we felt the [situation] warranted expediting to the field; we informed ATC of our speed.The major concern in this incident was our inability to effectively communicate with Dispatch. We never received an answer to our 3 'call me' ACARS messages; and when we got them on the radio; we couldn't understand due to poor radio coverage. In the debrief; we discussed it and both expressed that we felt like we were somewhat on our own making the decisions. Given our resources and time constraints; we chose ZZZ as we felt it was a close 'sure bet' for providing care; as well as suitable to land; on the list of serviced airports; etc. It would have been helpful to converse with Dispatch on these decisions; and also; to speak with Medical prior to diverting; but it wasn't feasible given the Comms. Given the challenges; the Captain did an absolute superb job commanding the situation. I would say that our crew effectiveness and CRM was excellent and we worked the problem together successfully.

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.