Situations when the accidental presence of doctors during the flight saved lives.
There is an active debate about the need for a medical officer on board the aircraft. Someone believes that this is necessary, and someone – that all flight attendants are trained in first aid skills, and the flight crew does not need reinforcement by paramedics. Wday.ru talked to doctors who happened to be on the plane, where their help was very helpful.
What Happens When a Person on an Airplane Needs Medical Care: The Real Stories of Doctors
Pediatrician, allergist-immunologist, TV presenter of the Friday!
– During flights on vacation, I found myself in situations where someone on the plane was bad. Passengers not related to medicine immediately gathered around this “bad” and tried to help with advice. Often they did not even let the flight attendants squeeze through, who (unlike everyone else) are trained to respond to such cases competently.
Most memorable was the case associated with pediatric intestinal infectionwhen I had to provide medical assistance on board. Immediately after take-off, a one-year-old child began to vomit (every 10-15 minutes), and his temperature rose. The family began to panic, a crowd of people came running who wanted to help in some way, but only sowed fear.
While the child was soiling all the chairs around, his mother demanded potassium permanganate from the flight attendant to dilute it and give it inside, poured an antipyretic syringe into it and constantly gave it juice, which successfully came out without lingering inside. The flight attendant made the announcement “Is there a doctor on board?” I reacted and went up to the woman with the baby.
At first she refused offers to help. But the baby clearly did not get any easier, and she decided to accept it. I inserted an antipyretic candle for him, stripped him down to the diaper so that the fever subsided faster, and advised him to pause in the juicing (for 30-40 minutes) so that the stomach would rest a little. When the temperature began to drop, we began to give him 1-2 sips of a solution made in the “airplane-field” conditions to replenish the water-salt balance in case of intestinal infection (per liter of water 3,5 g of salt and 20 g of sugar). The advisers also had to be dispersed around – the child was already frightened, and then there was a crowd of unfamiliar faces.
In fact, I have not done anything heroic, but sometimes even minimal qualified help and process management are necessary.
Situations like this happen quite often, and the main problem is not the medical case itself, but panic and ignorancethat appear on its background.
It is necessary to remain calm and if you have any concerns about your health, contact the flight attendants, who, in turn, can either help themselves or find a doctor on board.
It is important to remember that a flight attendant is a trained employee ready for a wide range of responsibilities.
Pediatrician, Head of the Lahta On Call Outbound Pediatric Service
vk.com/komovnicki
– The story happened to me several flights ago. I saw a girl in the next seat on the plane languishing in pain, clutching her head with her hands. I asked what worried her. She practically could not speak and pointed to her ears. It’s quite a usual thing – his ears were blocked. But the standard methods – yawning, sucking on the lollipop, taking a few sips of water – did not help. When she was able to explain that she had been experiencing cold symptoms in the past few days, the puzzle came together.
She had severe swelling of the nasal mucosa… Moreover, with ARVI, edema spreads to the entire nasopharynx. Therefore, even a common runny nose leads to a violation of the function of restoring pressure in the ears. This can cause severe pain during takeoff or landing. At such moments, it is necessary to remove the swelling of the mucous membrane.
The flight attendants helped instantly and brought the usual vasoconstrictor drops upon request. We dripped, and after a few minutes it became much easier for her, and the intolerable pain turned into a bearable one. We survived the landing safely.
– I always try to take a small first-aid kit with me in my carry-on baggage, because it is impossible to predict what might happen in flight. As it turned out, I am not doing this in vain.
I flew to Kaliningrad, the woman at the beginning of the plane felt unwell. The flight attendants began asking if there was a doctor on board. Reacting quickly, I approached her to find out what had happened. She was all flushed, said that she was hot and dazzled in her eyes. From experience, I realized that it was worth measuring blood pressure, and immediately asked for a tonometer. It turned out that she had РіРёРїРµСЂС‚РѕРЅРёС ‡ еский РєСЂРёР ·… When asked if she suffers from hypertension, she nodded her head in the affirmative, but she did not have any pills. Fortunately, the necessary drugs were in the first aid kit on board. They helped to lower blood pressure, and the further flight went well.
Recently, in August this year, S7 Airlines, together with the Aviation Medicine Physicians Association, launched the Doctors on Board privilege program for medical workers. It allows doctors to earn travel bonuses, which in turn helps them fly more often. This makes travel even safer and more relaxed for passengers, as there is likely to be a doctor on the flight who is ready to help.