Medical & HealthNews and debate about medical and health issues as they relate to aircrews and aviation. Any information gleaned from this forum MUST be backed up by consulting your state-registered health professional or AME.
Recently a friend was traveling on a Canadian airline and prior to the flight he purchased a snack which contained nuts. The flight attendant observed him eating his snack and asked if it contained nuts. When he replied it did he was told to put it away as she was allergic to nuts.
It should be a GREAT concern. Least of all simply because of the individual's freedom to choose and consume a snack of his own preference.
More importantly, though, one has to question whether the member of cabin crew is fit to be doing that job, in that environment.
IF (and it would need verifying) she was so allergic to nuts that it was justifiable for her to ask a passenger not to consume them, then she might be at risk of a major anaphylactic reaction when in close proximity to nuts. This is a potentially life-threatening emergency, and ample grounds for an in-flight diversion. What if the aircraft was over the mid-Atlantic ?
IF it were true, that individual should not be doing that job. If she were NOT that allergic, then why has she bothered mentioning it at all ? Mere proximity is unlikely to be a problem, only if she ATE any herself.
Told to put it away, or asked? Geez, take a chill pill. It is not unusual for us to have passengers who are allergic to nuts, and we always make a PA asking people not to eat any nut products and explain why. I've yet to receive a complaint from a passenger who objected to this. Some passengers bring their own food, so as to be sure they don't come into contact with nuts. They too cause a risk of needing to divert. Do we stop all people with an allergy from flying or just discriminate against crew? It may well be she had a minor allergy to nuts, causing breathing problems, but no serious risk, just very uncomfortable.
No more unreasonable than not having an air traffic controller with a stammer.
Fantastic ! That's a really great comparison ! Thanks !
It's really not a question of discrimination. In an operation such as an airline, passengers are transient, constantly changing, and pretty much unpredictable. Sure, diversions happen occasionally because passengers are taken ill in flight. But we should expect much higher standards of reliability in the regular staff. Anyone who has a significant risk of an anaphylactic reaction occurring at FL 370 SHOULD NOT BE CREW - PERIOD.
Umm I don't think the cabin crew in question claimed she'd have anaphylactic shock if she came into contact with nuts. Also, it isn't a contradiction in terms to say she'd "just suffer breathing problems". Just as anyone with hayfever can have a mild reaction or extremely severe, the same goes for allergy to anything. She may well have had a mild allergy that left her uncomfortable. So you are saying it's ok for a passenger with an extremely severe allergy to nuts to travel at 37,000 feet (we've had quite a few travel with us who have severe allergy and carry an Epipen), but not OK for a crew member with a mild allergy. Gotya.
but not OK for a crew member with a mild allergy. Gotya
Well, no, that's not really what I said at all ! If an allergy is MILD, and proven to be so, and not life-threatening, then the cabin crew would have no problem working, AND FURTHERMORE would NOT have to interfere with a passenger's personal choice of on board snack.
Quote:
it's ok for a passenger with an extremely severe allergy to nuts to travel at 37,000 feet (we've had quite a few travel with us who have severe allergy and carry an Epipen)
That's NOT QUITE in the spirit of what I said either ! If a passenger is known in advance to be very likely to suffer a life-threatening episode in flight, then no airline in its right mind should carry them ! My point was that, unlike staff, they fly infrequently, and facts are unpredictable, and often not known until the flight is well on its way.
Any "problem with breathing", especially at high altitude, is hardly well associated with the word "mild". The third line of Gingernut's very succinct post may well be the key to this one. I agree with his last line too.
Last edited by AMEandPPL : 6th July 2008 at 02:47.
Ginger, no I haven't been on the end of a decision regarding allergies, but I have worked in health care and know people with allergies, so understand the problems. I have no idea how this cabin crew member reacts, but if it's anything like my daughter, her eyes will get sore and water, and nothing more. (not a peanut allergy) It's certainly not life-threatening, but quite definitley uncomfortable. The other allergy my daughter has makes her breathing "tight", but again, not life threatening in any way, more like hay fever.
We carry a fair few passengers who we know have severe allergies and carry an Epipen with them. We are told at the pre-flight breifing and we simply make a PA asking passengers not to eat any products containing nuts. Fortunately we don't have stroppy passengers who can't live without nuts for a few hours.
I really don't see the fuss in asking people not to eat nuts for a few hours. Would the friend have complained if he'd been told a passenger had an allergy to them? No doubt the crew member has been passed fit to fly by staff health, as the last thing she'd want is to put her own life at risk. I hope she asked the friend nicely, that of course makes all the difference.
Def don't work for BA, I wear red. I have to say 99.9% of our passengers are very nice, the remainder I just think, "God help your other half". Anyway, I think it's all been said now, so ... I'm off to work
Been waiting for a thread of this sort to come about: I have wanted to be a professional pilot since I was very young-yet I do have what I beleive to be an intolerance to peanuts. My situation is that so long as I don't consume them, which when I last did about 13 years ago, made me be sick after about half an hour or so of consuming it. I am perfectly ok if I'm at a party and there are nuts etc on the table, and their presence does not make by breathing difficult nor my skin itch. I know loads of foods especially biscuits like to have the label saying not suitable for nut allergy sufferers and so on, but I could consume packets of those until the cows go home! I have been told from a former airline pilot (been retired for about 5 years) that with this being the case-so long as I discuss this properly with the AME at the medical, I should not have a problem obtaining it.
I did think this may have been the case as I have read about people with more serious complaints such as asthma and diabetes etc who can still obtiain a class 1
My health meets all the other medical requirements as well.
If anyone can provide me with some more info/advice on this I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Adam.
Last edited by dunelmitepilot : 9th July 2008 at 23:30.
Thanks gingernut. I may take it further and get an allergy test booked but the former airline pilot I mentioned in the previous post said it did sound like and intolerance rather than an allergy. He also mentioned that airlines try and refrain from serving food with nuts/nut oil in anyway due to the number of people who have the really bad allergic reactions-whereby if they just inhale the smell it can set them off!!!
I can't say I'd run the risk of not declaring it to an AME though-but fair play to you for doing it!!
Definition of allergy: "an abnormal reaction of the body to a previously encountered allergen introduced by inhalation, ingestion, injection, or skin contact, often manifested by itchy eyes, runny nose, wheezing, skin rash, or diarrhoea".
Can't say I blame her if she was trying to avoid any of these reactions to nuts.
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