Letters to the Editor
More on In-Flight Emergencies
The article “Is There a Doctor on Board?” (June 2011, p. 25) reminded me of two experiences I had responding to emergency situations in the air. I got my first call to help on a flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta a little over a year ago that was already running almost two hours late. I was asked to evaluate a young man, whom I was told had had juice and a single cocktail (his companions were adamant he had not had more), who was drifting in and out of consciousness.
After fending off an inebriated passenger in the seat ahead of him who wanted to give advice, I attempted to examine him and get a history. Using my own stethoscope, which I had with me because I was on a mission trip to Guatemala, and my husband’s glucometer (the flight attendant claimed there was no medical kit), I was able to determine that the man was not hypoglycemic and had a regular heart rhythm.
I eventually learned that the same thing had happened to him the previous year after he pulled an all-nighter without eating and then imbibed. That time, he made it to the beach at his destination before passing out. Thank goodness I didn’t divert our already-late flight when I was thinking about PEs and cerebral aneurysms. Next time, I will push the flight attendants harder about checking for a medical kit, now that I know that planes are mandated to have one.
My next call came a year later on a flight from London to Bahrain. It was for a lethargic kid who had stomach pain. I never found out for sure what was in the plane’s medical kit because a very nice paramedic accompanying a passenger had packets of oral rehydration salts in his kit that worked quite nicely for the child.
Because I’ve vacationed and volunteered in remote spots, I have thought a lot about what I need to take with me to care for people when backup is perhaps hours away. I was very pleased to see that the list of mandated items on planes included airway items and something for postpartum hemorrhage. As a family physician who does OB, one of my big fears is the possibility of miscarriage with severe bleeding or preterm delivery with or without maternal bleeding. Now I carry misoprostil.
I definitely agree with those physicians in your article who said it helps to have thought about how to approach such situations before they happen and to gather one’s thoughts first. I also agree that we do have valuable knowledge and an obligation to use it for others in true emergency situations.
Thanks for the article.
Jennie Orr, M.D., AMC
Family physician, Hastings
Correction: The image of the pagoda on the cover of the July 2011 issue of Minnesota Medicine should have been credited to Rachel Steckelberg. We regret the error.