Narrative:

Normal flight to ZZZ. Dispatcher informed us of moderate turbulence on descent into ZZZ. As we got closer to ZZZ; I informed the cabin crew that we would give them a 15 minute warning prior to descent into ZZZ; so that they could secure the cabin and be seated for the descent.later I gave the cabin crew this warning and to be seated in 15 minutes. Approximately 3 minutes later I received a call from the cabin and they stated they had a medical issue with passenger and the passenger had an apparent seizure and was unconscious. I asked if they had any doctors on board and they said they called for that and had no response yet. I asked them to also call for any nurses on board and to call our poc via their hand held devices.I sent a message to dispatch and asked for paramedics to meet the aircraft at the gate. After that when checking back with the cabin to see if any medical workers had responded to help. The cabin crew informed us that they had doctors and a nurse that were now evaluating the passenger; and that they reported that the passenger was unconscious with no pulse.we advised ATC and looked at our landing options. Winslow was the closest airport but it was xa pm at night and in our opinion would have limited medical options. ZZZ1 was the next closest airport at just over 120 miles. We discussed going to flagstaff but I know the flagstaff airport is quite a long way south of ZZZ1 and I felt that could be an issue for quick medical help. ZZZ was just slightly farther than flagstaff by only a few miles but given the better medical infrastructure we felt that was our best option. I felt the passenger would get to a hospital faster by landing in ZZZ.we did our best to land as soon as possible. After arriving at the gate the paramedics met the aircraft at gate.we had three doctors and a nurse on board that responded to help our passenger. They all did their very best to help. I spoke with the nurse and two of the doctors after we landed and they stated that they did all they could but the passenger had aspirated and cardiac arrest. They were unable to get the passenger's heart to respond.they used everything at their disposal. They gave chest compressions and tried an epinephrine shot. Nothing worked and our passenger's heart did not respond. They stated they could not use the defibrillator because there was no cardiac activity and the defibrillator does not work in that condition.cardiac arrest.doctor and nurse stated that all airlines should look at updating the medical kits. There are new tools available that would be helpful.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Captain reported that an in flight medical emergency resulted in a diversion.

Narrative: Normal Flight to ZZZ. Dispatcher informed us of moderate turbulence on descent into ZZZ. As we got closer to ZZZ; I informed the Cabin Crew that we would give them a 15 minute warning prior to descent into ZZZ; so that they could secure the cabin and be seated for the descent.Later I gave the Cabin Crew this warning and to be seated in 15 minutes. Approximately 3 minutes later I received a call from the cabin and they stated they had a medical issue with passenger and the passenger had an apparent seizure and was unconscious. I asked if they had any Doctors on board and they said they called for that and had no response yet. I asked them to also call for any Nurses on board and to call our POC via their hand held devices.I sent a message to Dispatch and asked for paramedics to meet the aircraft at the gate. After that when checking back with the cabin to see if any medical workers had responded to help. The Cabin Crew informed us that they had doctors and a nurse that were now evaluating the passenger; and that they reported that the passenger was unconscious with no pulse.We advised ATC and looked at our landing options. Winslow was the closest airport but it was XA pm at night and in our opinion would have limited medical options. ZZZ1 was the next closest airport at just over 120 miles. We discussed going to Flagstaff but I know the Flagstaff airport is quite a long way south of ZZZ1 and I felt that could be an issue for quick medical help. ZZZ was just slightly farther than Flagstaff by only a few miles but given the better medical infrastructure we felt that was our best option. I felt the passenger would get to a hospital faster by landing in ZZZ.We did our best to land as soon as possible. After arriving at the gate the paramedics met the aircraft at gate.We had three doctors and a nurse on board that responded to help our passenger. They all did their very best to help. I spoke with the nurse and two of the doctors after we landed and they stated that they did all they could but the passenger had aspirated and cardiac arrest. They were unable to get the passenger's heart to respond.They used everything at their disposal. They gave chest compressions and tried an Epinephrine shot. Nothing worked and our passenger's heart did not respond. They stated they could not use the defibrillator because there was no cardiac activity and the defibrillator does not work in that condition.Cardiac arrest.Doctor and nurse stated that all airlines should look at updating the medical kits. There are new tools available that would be helpful.

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.