I was pax on a flight to TPA last year (BA) and during the last hour of the flight another pax developed a problem. Clearly the flight deck had asked for a straight in as the cabin crew were extra busy getting everything stowed (and looking after the pax with problem who was sitting a few rows behind me in coach/World Traveller). We received a cabin briefing requesting us all to remain in our seats as medical personnel would be coming on board...we landed, taxi-ed to gate, and no sooner parked than the door was open and the paramedics plus trolley appeared in the doorway.. oxygen bottle at ready with mask out, they went straight to the pax, assisted him very gently to the trolley which wouldn't fit in the aisle, laid him on it and then at the trot ran off the aircraft up the gangway and, presumably by some other route to the waiting ambulance which had disappeared before the rest of us had even emptied the overhead bins. Most impressive. Does anyone know if this paramedic service would have been provided by Tampa Airport (either directly or as a retained local ambulance company) or would it have come from a local hospital?
I am sad, as a Brit, to hear the LHR does not provide such a service but as the title of this thread suggests the UK is in 2003 sorely lacking any "First World" sense of providing support and service to its population in so many ways ...
What are the requirements for airports to provide emergency first aid/paramedic services - is there some UK/EU/International standard?