I'm Sure No Doctor!

A brief JSS thought on In-Flight Medical Emergencies (and soon to follow the In-Flight Scare of my week)

In-flight medical emergencies are scary. A woman collapses and everyone around her is staring up at me expecting me to know exactly what to do. A child goes into seizures and I’m the one in charge to help. What about people who stop breathing or have a heart attack on the airplane. Everyone looks to the crew for help. I understand that and I know my job is all about the safety and security of my passengers. (Even though I like to think before every flight I’m hosting a fabulous in-flight party until we reach our destination.. Its way more than that)

The problem lies within our limited medical knowledge. In training “First Aid” is a mere chapter in a manual of many things we cover. We probably spent possibly 1 day on covering all the “information” you need on a medical emergency. So pretty much if your stomach hurts… I give you ginger ale and a sweet smile. You have a headache I offer aspirin and a pillow. You sprained your foot - I give you ice and offer up a really sweet “I hope you feel much better kind sir.” Don’t get me wrong we went over how to deliver a baby but all I remember was to yell PUSH. We were trained in CPR and the use of an onboard AED/and in-flight oxygen…but other than those things we are pretty restricted to what we can give/and or do on the aircraft for sick patients.

Our only saving grace on the airplane is our MEDLINK connection. Its a huge headset that connects us with a hospital where we can speak directly to a physician who deals with emergency care. We have a few different kits on the aircraft that if only directed by MEDLINK we can open and administer their contents. Medlink is wonderful because it takes the liability off of the crew.

So to me, having a medical emergency is terrifying. I’m pretty much being entrusted with the care of someone who is possibly on the brink of death. Wow. I feel so under-qualified its scary to actually have to be in control and handle situations with so much on the line. Ask me to evacuate a 767 in 90 seconds with smoke and fire - No problem…. We are trained to do those life or death situations over and over. I particularly shouted out evacuation commands in my sleep for weeks after training. I can deal with scary things but when it comes to a subject my knowledge is so limited I feel so out of my league. We always pray we have some medical personal onboard the aircraft to help but that is not always the case.

So evacuating burning aircraft……no problem

A medical emergency… I may make a cute nurse… but I‘m sure no Doctor!

(Stay tuned - More to come about this weeks medical!)