Having used medlink a number of times myself in the same company as Shadowpurser, indeed many of the flight crew were unwilling to use the facility provided by medlink and asked us repeatedly to pa for a Dr on board first.
However the correct procedure taught to the crew was, at the time, to contact medlink first who would then advise if a Dr on board was a necessity or there was something the crew could do, depending on the nature of the incident of course.
Warlock2000 re your comments. When was the last time a flight crew member came out of the flight deck to assess a medical situation that has arisen on board and suggested a course of action? I can't recall it ever happening, that is one of the reasons cabin crew are on board.
If through our rigorous avmed training, we as cabin crew consider that contacting medlink is a neccessity, then the flight crew should contact medlink where possible, without discussion. We are not trying to tell them what to do, simply asking them to connect us to people on the ground for advice we feel is necessary.
If during the flight the Capt or FO asked us to take a look outside D3L and see if everything was okay, we would do it because we have faith in their abilities and believe they know what they are talking about. We wouldn't suggest they pa to see if we have an engineer on board first would we?
