“Is there a doctor onboard?!” It’s a familiar scene from movies – Hollywood loves a medical emergency. So does the media. A woman giving birth on a plane, for example, is a great news story – and it happens.
Unfortunately, recently there have also been news stories of passengers suffering cardiac arrest and dying before being able to reach appropriate care. There is also a recent story about some unexpected turbulence on an American flight that caused injuries to 24 passengers and 4 crew members.
To quote one study, “In-flight medical events are a potentially significant problem. The airliner cabin at 35,000 feet is far from advanced medical care, space is restricted, the appropriate and necessary equipment for handling a given emergency may or may not be present, and qualified medical personnel are not generally available unless they are travelling on board as passengers. The cabin environment is also pressurised to an altitude in the range of 4,000 to 8,000 feet, which may pose its own difficulties for passengers with certain medical emergencies such as respiratory or cardiac arrest . Without treatment, a passenger suffering from a heart attack is unlikely to survive.”
Minor medical problems might include motion sickness, ear pain and gastro, while more serious medical problems include fainting, food poisoning and injuries. The growing number of older passengers combined with longer flights means an increase in the number in-flight health issues can be expected.It’s impossible for a flight attendant to be trained to deal with every kind of medical problem that might arise onboard, so it might also be wise to practice that line, “Is there a doctor onboard?”!
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário