Flight Emergencies - Care in the Sky

The announcement “Is there a doctor on board, please?” can save a life. The chances of a doctor on board are between 8% to 86% world- wide. A study on in-flight emergencies and responses of doctors who flew as passengers in commercial aircraft reveals that over 30% had handled in- flight emergencies. They had attended to minor and serious emergencies ranging from conditions affecting the ear, ischemic attacks and abdominal pain to seizures, respiratory and cardiac arrests.

To the credit of the medical fraternity, there are touching instances of doctors who have been instantly inventive on board that has saved many a passengers life. At other times, successfully delivering babies or giving a cardiac massage that revived a patient.

Tension Pneumothorax in the chest can be fatal if not corrected immediately. In a much-publicized incident, Professor Angus Wallace and Dr. Tom Wong saved a 39-year old woman who suffered from this condition on board an aircraft flying from Hong Kong to London. The doctors improvised on things readily available on hand to save the woman. They used brandy to clean the skin, a coat hanger to puncture and relieve the tension in the chest and inserted a catheter to keep the lungs expanded.

In-flight deliveries: In 2004, a pregnant woman on board a Colombian Airliner to Bogota went into labor mid-air. She delivered a baby boy in-flight and gave him the name of the airlines. Returning the favor, the airline has promised free flights, life long, to the boy on any of its flights!

In another similar case in 2006, a 42-year old woman gave birth to a healthy girl child on a plane bound for O’Hare International airport from Mexico. Fortunately for her, an obstetrician-gynecologist was also on board the airplane.