Originally Posted by
aa777888
Alchemy: it's not arrogance. I do believe I did rank the right kind of MD at the top of the list of who you want there. Nevertheless even with that stipulation the great equalizer is that all you have on the aircraft is O2, maybe some airway management tools (maybe not), and an AED. When there is no pulse and no respiration due to a cardiac disease process what extra is an MD going to bring to the party except the ability to pronounce and save everyone a bit of trouble? There's no access for med's, no med's, no 12 lead, no pacing, etc., etc. I suppose you could get crazy with an EpiPen somehow. But pretty much if CPR and the AED don't do the trick the party is over.
Not the case with my US LCC. At my outfit we carry 1-2 EMKs with very short rectification intervals on the MEL; they have quite the laundry list of specialized drugs, and an inner and outer compartment whereby the inner compartment may only be opened by an MD or DO (or flight attendant/emt/RN when authorized by Medlink). I'd be willing to bet something very similar is onboard most major worldwide carriers at this point, perhaps even required by CFRs.