No one ever wants to have a medical emergency, but when they happen, people especially don't want to have them on an airplane, where you are trapped in a cylinder flying at an extremely high elevation. However, in-flight medical emergencies occur on about one in every 604 flights, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Each year, 2.75 billion people fly on commercial airlines, working out to approximately 44,000 medical emergencies a year, with nearly 50 a day in the U.S. alone.
Comfortingly, only one-third of one percent of these emergencies result in death.
The study examined calls to a medical communications center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. It is one of two centers in the U.S. where emergency physicians advise flight crews on how to help patients. The second center is in Phoenix.
In 75 percent of the emergencies, there were trained health professionals on board who came forward to help.
Flight attendants are trained to use automated external defibrillators (AED) and have medical kits on board, said Christian Martin-Gill, a co-author of the study and an emergency physician at Pittsburgh's medical communications center.
However, while flights are often equipped with medical supplies, such as pain relievers and intravenous fluids, only a trained medical professional can administer them, said Alex Isakov, a physician in the emergency room at Atlanta's Emory University Hospital.
There is a good chance that someone on a flight will be a medical professional, but assisting patients on board an in-flight aircraft is hardly ideal.
Benjamin Abella is an emergency physician who has assisted patients in emergency situations twice.
"I felt very much like I was flying by the seat of my pants," Abella said. "There was a little cluster of volunteers trying to help.
"One guy said, 'I'm a psychiatrist,'" Abella continued. "Another guy said, 'I'm a dermatologist.
"I said, 'I'm an emergency physician,' and they all cleared out of the way," Abella added.
Privacy is another issue for in-flight emergencies, as there is not anywhere to go.
"Airplanes are a very difficult place to work," Abella said. "Flight attendants have a tough job.
"They are often not respected for the skilled professionals they are," he added.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
