Be Prepared For An Inflight Medical Emergency

Dealing with a medical crisis is bad enough wherever you are.  However, if you become ill on an airplane at 36,000 feet, it’s the worse place to be.

Medaire, a company that offers medical advice to flight crews, received over 17,000 inflight emergency calls in 2007. These 911 calls also affect fellow passengers. In 2007 649 planes were diverted to different destinations for medical reasons.

To make matters worse, according to the Aerospace Medical Association airlines aren’t required to report their medical problems inflight . . . too much bad publicity.

Two questions can be asked when it comes to emergencies in the skies:  what medical preparation can a passenger expect of a carrier, and what can a passenger do to avoid an inflight medical crisis?

Medical Requirements For Airlines
In February 2008 an American Airlines passenger, Carine Desir, died while flying from Haiti to NY.  Passengers claim she cried for help, claiming she couldn’t breath. CNN reports that according to the passenger’s family, neither an oxygen canister nor a working defibrillator was on board. Nurse Carine Desir died due to a shortage of equipment and an inoperable medical device.

What kinds of medical kits are we to expect on a major airline? First, a basic first aid kit for use by the flight crew must be on board. The FAA requires flight attendants to have some medical training and emergency instruction on how to use the first aid contents.

Also on board should be a medical kit containing items to be used by a medical professional: blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, plastic airways to deliver oxygen to help with breathing and other medical devices.

Most importantly, the FAA requires there be a supply of oxygen and an AED device (Automatic External Defibrillator) aboard every flight. USA Today claims federal rules allow nonworking AEDs to make a few flights before being replaced.  Should passengers know before takeoff that there is non-working AED on their flight?

To advise the cabin crew, most airlines have 24 hour access to a doctor or a medical service like MedAire on the ground. 

From MedAire we discover passengers with diabetes, seizure disorders and heart and respiratory ailments account for 23% of in-flight deaths and 29% of airline diversions.

Medical Preparedness For Travelers

•if you feel ill while flying, buzz the flight attendant immediately.

•make sure a doctor is paged over the airplane’s intercom.  Chances are a doctor or a nurse on board can provide medical assistance.

•One flight attendant, S.R. recommends travelers with severe medical issues write the names of meds and their blood type on their arm and leg. Though you may carry health cards and alert bracelets, there’s always the chance these items are not on your person.

•Wash your hands after touching handles and latches in the passenger cabin.  Flight attendant S.R. recounts a passenger with contagious conjunctivitis who was allowed to board a plane regardless that her infection could spread to others.

•If you feel sick or have history of bad health, get checked
out by your physician before you fly. If he recommends that you do not fly, don’t.

•If you have a medical condition that requires medication, please takes your meds with you.

•Stay hydrated.  Carry water with you on the plane.

•Walk around the plane to avoid developing deep-vein thrombosis caused by immobility and lack of water.

John   
Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

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