Will there be any medical assistance in the plane?

Question

Will there be any doctor in the aeroplane? During long distance travels (say 12 hours or more) if there is any emergency for the passenger how do they handle?

Answer 1

As others have mentioned airlines do not have medical personnel onboard.  Different airlines have different policies for how to handle inflight medical emergencies.  All US based (FAA part 121) carriers are required to have a certain number of medical kits, first aid kits, oxygen canisters, and defibrilators depending on the size of the aircraft and the number of passenger seats.    Crewmembers have received medical training but for liability reasons are not certified in any specific procedures.  Depending on the severity of the situation a physician may or may not be paged to assist with anything the flight attendants have not been trained to handle.  Dr.'s, nurses, EMT's, etc.  however, are under no obligation to volunteer their services.  There was a time when any medical personnel who assisted in this type of situation might receive some type of thank you remuneration (free ticket) but those days are past.  IF they do anything airlines might offer a few thousand frequent flyer miles to these Good Samaritans but there is no guarantee of even that.  There is always a physician on-call via radio from the cockpit to not only render medical advice but also to help make the determination as to whether an unscheduled landing needs to and/or will occur.  Airlines hate making these unscheduled landings.  They inconvenience all passengers, cause tremendous flight delays, incur (often very hefty) additional fees and sometimes fines, compromise flight crew legalities and duty limitations, and in general cost thousands of unbudgeted dollars.  Many airlines have started billing the passenger who caused the medical emergency landing for all these extra charges.  Airlines are not hospitals.  If you're sick, think you're sick, or have a medical condition that might be exacerbated while flying it behooves you to seriously reconsider whether the time is right for travel.

Answer 2

they have limited help crew is cpr certified emergency landing at nearest airport for extreme medical conditions

Answer 3

Not necessarily.

Sometimes a passenger is a doctor or a nurse, but aren't usually needed.

If there is something life threatening, they will land the plane at closest medical center near an airport.

Answer 4

No, not even on long flights.

The crew has first aid training, though.

Answer 5

They don't keep a medical staff on duty in the airplanes, no airline could afford to. The attendants are trained in first aid and CPR. If there is a major medical event, they will land the plane at the nearest airport and have an ambulance meet the plane. If you are flying over a large area of water, like the Atlantic, because there is no place to land (unless rerouted to Iceland or similar), they would have to do their best until they landed at the next available airport.

Answer 6

There's no particular medical assistance on the flight unless you have arranged for it. There may well be passengers on board who are physicians, nurses, etc., but maybe not. And maybe they will step forward and maybe not. And of course a physician might be a dermatologist, proctologist, or psychiatrist!

They also have very limited supplies and equipment onboard to do anything with, anyway. How much and just what varies by airline.

The major airlines (at least) have docs on the ground for consultation by radio. I know because I know a doc who did that for a while. (Good gig if you like light workload, occasional arms-length detective work, and travel benefits.)

Answer 7

Actually this happened to me on my return flight to Italy just a couple days ago.

An old women had a stroke and we had to land in a small airport in Canada.

There was no medical assistance on the plane, we had a 3 hour delay

Answer 8

The doctor depends.

During long distance travels, and say that did happen, the stewardesses come in first and help in aid then announces the emergency over the line to the passengers and asks if there is a doctor aboard.

In the worst-case scenario, I think that the plane will land at a nearby airport and will address medical aid in a hospital in the area.