Choking to death on a Jetstar flight would have to rank highly as one of the worst ways to go.
My sister and brother-in-law, both doctors, were on their honeymoon in December last year, and were gobsmacked at the lack of training amongst the cabin crew. They were called upon in-flight, and volunteered. Not before first realising something was wrong and offering to help - to be told 'no problem, can I get you a drink?' (as my sister returned from the toilet). Some 30mins later, the crew completely forgot they had already offered, and put out a PA.
Their observations:
1) The call for help came WAY too late, and of the first aid equipment was available, the staff had no confidence in either locating it or using it. When they finally were able to attend to the patient, nothing had been done.
2) Basic first aid knowledge was non-existent amongst the crew (no recovery position - they had done nothing - but they had offered to get the patient something to eat?? - not diabetic?)
3) It took the crew members some 10 minutes to locate a supplemental oxygen bottle - they were observed opening just about every stowage in sight looking for it! God help them if the cabin lost pressure!
4) Communication of the issue to the flight deck was NON EXISTENT, despite the advice that the patient required urgent/critical treatment.
These are two doctors who are very familiar with aviation health - coming from an aviation family, and dad is a DAME. They know very well what Australian cabin crew have to go through with training, and given her brother (me) has dealt with more than his fair share of serious medical emergencies (stroke, heart attack, epilepsy to name a few), she knew that on Qantas, Ansett (back when), Virgin, the passengers were in good hands.
Although doctors deal with this stuff in the same, clinical way, pilots and cabin crew deal with emergencies - it is still upsetting for them, and in this case, nothing short of frustrating and angering. ESPECIALLY when they volunteer and EXPOSE themselves to litigation.
The kicker - they didn't even get thanked by the crew, who after eventually finding an oxygen bottle - went to the galley to have their dinner!!
Add to that, when the ambulance officers asked the crew who the doctors were who helped, the crew couldnt remember, and it was the patients wife who had to identify them.
The patient lived (luckily, im told) and both he and his wife were the only ones who thanked them.
Edited to add: Teresa Green - I enjoy reading your posts, hopefully you'll understand why this kind of thing angers me. No, although I did work there for a short time a few years ago, i'm not QF, and left on good terms. I'm sorry if you think it's in poor taste, but despite your positive experience (were they Aust based crew?), I really think this is something that needs to be further investigated. I don't trust management speak that everyone is trained up to scratch. If they are, then it would appear that there are a lot who don't have the confidence to use their training.
Last edited by ozangel; 4th Sep 2011 at 06:07.