Originally Posted by
Final 3 Greens
Alibaba & Blackmail
Please note that I am not bashing Ryanair, my point is made generally. The fact that the airline in question is Ryanair is irrelevant as far as I am concerned and your sensitivity to inferred criticism is your problem, not mine.
Allibaba, you said "I don't particularly think it is the airlines that are relying on the help of a medical professional", but if you look in the first post it says quite clearly that the aircraft commander appealed for assistance - absolutely the right thing to do, I think that we agree on that.
I have no idea why the kit was not given to the nurse and am not trying to judge the reasons why, nor do I dispute that the aircraft carried the supplies required.
Once again, my point is that if health professionals are asked to assist, they should be provided with the gloves and masks.
After all, they might be putting their own life on the line by not using this basic equipment.
What I really do not understand is why the crew didn't do anything themselves first?
I know that procedures change from airline to airling but in MY airline, for example, there are only 3 occasions we can contact a doctor on board, if it's an immediate life-threatening situation (like suspected anaphylactic shock), if Medlink cannot be contacted or IF medlink tells us to.
Cabin crew in my airline are perfectly trained to carry out CPR, and nobody can forget the DRSABCD which are lying there at the back of our mind whatever we're doing on board. D stands for Danger, which means if there's any danger to MYSELF or the person who requires help then we must leave it until the situation changes. That is, if I have nothing to do a protected mouth-to-mouth with then I can skip it until somebody brings me some protection.
But there lays the difference. We have the appropriate equipment to deal with situation like these (a relatively frequent occasion unfortunately) and we know exactly where it is.
And 99% of the cabin crew in my airline would always carry a disposable "face shield" in their pocket at any time during the flight (we also have spare ones in the basic medical kit) which can be used while waiting for the resuscitation kit.
I believe the problem is in the safety culture of the airlines. Probably that woman would have died anyway, but at least the crew's/management's conscience would have been relieved knowing they had tried all the possible to save that woman's life.
After a stroke, a heart attack and a stillbirth in 5 years of flying, I know I would have felt a little bit better.
FBW