Inflight Medical Emergency
 

A friend of mine traveling on a THY flight from Turkey to London responded to an 'is there a doctor on board?' announcement recently. She is qualified in both Turkey and the UK and is currently working as a GP in the UK. She was asked if she had proof that she was a doctor. She was traveling on holiday and did not have any such proof with her. Her offer was declined due to 'company policy'. She was understandably upset.

Does any body know if this policy is common or is it just some THY thing. Good news is that the passenger concerned recovered sufficiently to leave the aircraft on foot into the care of the LAS. I do not know if a medical emergency was declared.

I wonder how many doctors traveling by air have the means to prove their qualification.

Interesting. So does the airline believe that their 'policy' can overrule the potential wishes of the casualty (assuming conscious)? This would also lead to the ridiculous scenario of airline staff attempting to prevent family members assisting each other without proof.

Makes sense really. I would guess that if the crew take the initiative to request a doctor over the P/A they must then be satisfied that any responder is indeed a qualified doctor.

I imagine that 'proof' could be as easy as a business card or wallet id from a hospital. I carry my EMT card with me, and have been asked to produce it.

I can't imagine a Dr., not being able to 'prove' they are such. On the other hand someone who says that s/he is a Dr, but can't prove it....

While there are Drs, other than medical ones I can't imagine an economist wanting to do a frontal lobotomy. (Paul Krugman excepted)

So the airline lets a 'Dr' have full access to their passenger. If that is NOT a Dr and does anything from steal their wallet or the pax dies? Ask your local friendly lawyer who would get the blame!

I thought all medics carried a stethoscope everywhere so they could leave it on their car seats when they park on double yellow lines...................

:) Oh what a cynic you are HH :ok:

Surely all airlines should be doing something like this?

The ?Doctor on board? programme - Lufthansa ® Ireland

I've responded to these calls 2-3 times. Never been asked for anything more -- crew just want some help, appreciate who they get.
But if they did ask, sh!t outta luck -- I don't travel with any credentials.

Besides, almost all airlines now are working with ground based medical assist agencies.

We certainly do, and those agencies can sometimes verify the bona thingies of anyone claiming to be a doc.

As far as the original question goes the cabin crew will obviously happily accept help but if there is any doubt in their minds about the competence of the medical professional they have to decline the assistance.

I'm guessing medical "Walts" are rare but they do exist.

Years ago, trans-Atlantic, recently qualified young lady volunteered.
We were using HF to UK Ops with 'phone patch to US medic advice provider.
Initially put Doc in direct contact but then realised that HF radio is a bit difficult for the un-initiated so she asked the Qs and I relayed.
We dived into Boston and offloaded our suspected heart attack which turned out not to be and lady was eventually discharged.

I have responded to the requests on several occasions, mostly on Virgin Atlantic, have always been asked if I have proof (I always do), but always the patient came first before paperwork.

On the last occasion the ground based doctor got fed up with me disagreeing with their suggested treatment (it's much easier to treat a patient that you can see that one who can be described), told me to just treat as best as possible with what I had and for the flight crew to just give them updates. Involved a diversion, patient had 2 weeks in hospital and major surgery to survive albeit minus a useful but not essential body part).

Given the recommended treatment based on what the crew had been able to relay prior to my involvement he would have died somewhere mid Atlantic track. This is in NO way discrediting the crew who had done extremely well in managing him but as non medics weren't looking for the same things, nor phrasing questions as I was and also not able to realize that the signs and symptoms didn't add up to what the patient and ground doctor thought was the diagnosis.

One big issue I found was thanks to the post 911 rules I could not enter the cockpit to speak directly with the doctor and had to relay everything through the purser.

I still have the picture of the fuel dumping prior to diverting, I think we were only about 3 or 4 hours out of LAX for LHR.

HTC

(genuine question from an ignoramus) Can the R/T not be connected to the Interphone to allow direct comms?

Post 6 Paxboy wrote The other side of that is what if patient had died with a Dr there but not allowed to offer treatment or advice? Ask your local friendly lawyer who would get sued then?
Common sense surely must apply.

Absolutely rjtjrt! I agree, I was putting the stock mgmt attitude and should have prefaced it as such. The LH programme looks to be very good indeed.

The issue here is the nature of HF/SSB comms. Unless you're a long-haul pilot or a radio ham, it can be very difficult to interpret the squeaky voice that you're hearing over the airwaves, hence the OP's need to relay what was being said.

A MEL item then? I feel like I've been operating without an APU for years now.

Might be a regulatory/cost issue involved but in any event it's not been a possibility on any comms I've seen.

FWIW these days on many types (especially long haul) the communications with the medics on the ground will be done by the crew via satellite phone ( which in our case is part of the Flight Deck communications fit) rather than by using noisy, scratchy etc HF.

Our thread starter has told us of an interesting scenario. But I just wonder what the crew would have done had the passenger's condition worsened. Also you have ask what would have happened if the passenger's condition was such that a medic would advice an immediate diversion. It would be very difficult to explain after your passenger dies as to why you didn't take medical advuce when it was standing right in front of you. That would possibly lead to an even more interesting case in court. Lots of 'ifs' I know but it is important to know how 'being safe' can sometimes backfire and hurt you or others.

PM