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Is there a doctor on board?

cadams
Adventurer B
I am working on my second tray of drinks in the forward galley when a woman walks up to me and says, "I don't feel well."  She is feeling weak with pain in her mid-chest and under her arms.  Her seat is near the front, so I ask her to return to her seat and let her know I will follow her there.  I reach for the interphone and call the Captain to start a phone patch to MedLink (the medical company that assists us with inflight medical emergencies).  I also call the other two Flight Attendants to come to the front of the aircraft.  I quickly grab an oxygen bottle from the forward overhead bin and give oxygen to the passenger.  This relaxes her.  Meanwhile the other two Flight Attendants bring me a medical questionnaire pad, MedLink headphones, the Emergency First Aid Kit, CPR mask, gloves, and the defibrillator.  An announcement is made over the PA requesting medical  assistance.  No one responds.  Wearing the headphones and waiting for the MedLink contact, I gather medical information from the Customer.  She is diabetic, has high blood pressure (for which she recently changed medication), and takes medication for anxiety.  This is the third flight of her life. MedLink comes over the headphones, and I begin relating the patient's vital information.  Per the MedLink doctor's instructions, one aspirin is given along with two nitroglycerine tablets.  He says to wait five minutes and repeat the nitro tablets.  If the pain does not disappear, I am to do this a third time.  I am relieved when she tells me she feels much better after taking the fourth tablet.  Her seat is reclined and oxygen continues until landing, which is within thirty minutes.  We are given priority landing and paramedics meet the aircraft.  She is taken to the hospital for observation.  Were we scared?   Concerned for the patient, yes.  Scared, no.  Flight Attendants receive basic first aid instruction during initial training and every year during recurrent training.  MedLink is a 24-hour medical-help hotline in the emergency room of Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix.  A doctor provides recommendations for any inflight medical emergency or medical condition when advice is necessary.  They assume responsibility for the actions of a Flight Attendant or medical volunteer when they are acting under the direction of MedLink.  The addition of the defibrillator on every aircraft is a great help in the event that a Customer has a heart attack. Nearly 200 inflight medical emergencies occur industrywide every day throughout the world.  Many of those emergencies are the result of people boarding who are already seriously ill.  This could be a fatal mistake.  Please encourage your friends and family to travel only when they are feeling well.    
52 Comments
Not applicable
[...] What Happens If You Get Seriously Ill on a Plane? Published March 30th, 2007 Uncategorized Carole Adams, a flight attendant on Southwest Airlines, describes her first person account. [...]
Going_Like_Sixt1
Explorer B
Wow. I learned a lot from your post. Thank you for sharing.
Eric15
Explorer A
I heard an urban legend once that a certain blogger on this site had fallen asleep on another certain bloggers shoulder. Now that may sound like nothing, but the blogger with the pillow shoulder got excited and choked on a candy corn. Fortunately there was a F/A blogger on the aircraft and was able to perform a Heimlich maneuver and save said bloggers life. The weird thing was he asked for the candy corn back. Ha-ha, I think it's great that not only do we have the nicest F/A's around, but also among the best trained in the world. IMHO
drew
Adventurer B
How often are ill passengers denied boarding? Aside from what we've seen on Airline, I know of only one incident. A young lady was vomiting at the gate and was told by the gate agent that should could not fly that evening.
Jim13
Adventurer C
Great post Carole, one of the best in this blog. It really makes one think, and be glad for all the training and preparation - there's obviously a whole lot that goes on - in advance - that the flying public is never aware of. 200 in flight medical emergencies per day? That sounds like a huge number, but best I can tell, about 2 million people fly each day in the United States alone, ( http://www.bts.gov/xml/air_traffic/src/index.xml#TwelveMonthsSystem ) so I'll guess 6 million people fly each day worldwide. Just a WAG. So, between one in 10,000 and on in 30,000 passengers has a medical emergency. But still, when you think about what has to happen on all 200 daily flights with a medical emergency, it boggles the mind. I'm guessing severe emergencies would require a landing at the nearest airport. Almost all medical emergency flights would require priority landing, priority taxiing/gate assignment and/or being met by an ambulance. I especially found interesting and fascinating your comment, "They [MedLink] assume responsibility for the actions of a Flight Attendant or medical volunteer when they are acting under the direction of MedLink." Obviously legal considerations must be a factor in an in flight medical emergency - the terms and conditions of the contract between SWA and MedLink must be intriguing to say the least. Two interesting links when Googling "In Flight Medical Emergency": http://www.faa.gov/education_research/research/med_humanfacs/aeromedical/aircraftaccident/medicalemergency/index.cfm http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7272/1336?ck=nck
David_M
Explorer C
Drew, Probably more often than we might think. There's a story making the rounds this morning about a 16 year old girl who was removed from a Newark to Honolulu flight (obviously, not a Southwest flight): http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4674769.html
Marcus
Explorer B
Drew, there was a couple incidents recently. One girl was denied boarding from EWR to HNL this past week for having a coughing fit. And last month, a family was denied boarding on a FL-NY run I believe. I don't recall the specifics on this event. I know neither of these involve Southwest but these two jumped right out at me.
Laurie7
Explorer A
I once had a customer come up to the gate to ask if he could preboard. He told me he wasn't feeling well and then proceed to throw up several in the trash can front of my gate. Thankfully, I managed to gently talk him out of flying that day and didn't have to resort to dening him boarding (which by the way, I would have most certainly done if he hadn't "see the light."). While in-flight medical emergencies are rare (and a situatiion best avoided), having seen my SWA family in coordinated action both in the air and on the ground, I gotta tell you I'm impressed with both the professionalism and heartfelt care we provide our customers.
chuchoteur
Adventurer B
Hi Carole! Wow! I'm sure the lady was most grateful for your help! It is too often overlooked that FA's have extensive training to prepare them for a number of emergency situations on board - they are not there just to dish out the peanuts! The more people fly, the higher the likelihood of in flight medical emergencies. I am always disappointed that some other airlines do not systematically carry a defribrillator, or do not have an easy link down to a medical center. Yes, a these services cost a lot of money (and a defibrillator is a fairly expensive piece of kit that hopefully you don't use every day), however Southwest yet again shows that you can be a low cost airline without going cheap. :o)
Sam13
Explorer C
I'd like to add to the above posts that once again, the media do not tell the whole story especially in aviation related stories, just what they want to selectively tell. In both cases after reading further, the crew was certainly justified in not allowing them to continue.Flight crews are trained and knowledgeable enough to make these decisions, and I'm glad they are.And obviously a person who is sick enough to throw up at the gate is not well enough to travel.
Leah4
Frequent Flyer B
I remember once when my parents & I flew to ABQ (on SWA, of course!), & when we stepped off the jetway and on to the gate, & I noticed a TV crew walking by. At the hotel that night, I heard on the news a lady had given birth while flying over ABQ. I wonder why she was even flying then, unless she just absolutely had to.
swflyer1
Explorer C
Last year I was on a flight during a possible medical emergency and a doctor was onboard. The patient's chest pains were fortunately due to indigestion. Unfortunately when she was examining him, she ended up with vomit all over her shirt. (the rear lav was also closed for the remainder of the flight). The doctor had her own perscription for acid reflux medication or antacids that she wanted to give to the patient, but the Southwest flight attendants denied that request, citing legal liabilities unless they got approval from Medlink. The flight attendant gave the doctor a personal tshirt which had sentimental value. I've been meaning to write into southwest and suggest that they fly with a cheap set of medical scrubs as a quick change of clothes should a doctor, flight attendant, or even passenger sitting next to a sick person encounter the same type of issue. During landing, I asked the flight attendant if they had taken the doctor's information. They said no and asked why. I said are you kidding me, this is Southwest airlines, known for its customer service. If you can give flight vouchers to folks who are delayed or bumped, surely you owe this doctor something, at least a written thank you, because she interrupted their personal trip and ended up covered in vomit for the second time in recent history. I have a hunch that this doctor's assistnace is what saved us from a diversion to a closer airport, and that allowed us to get to our destination on time.
Cygnus
Adventurer C
My wife's aunt did a wise thing and waited another couple days to fly back from RNO to BWI when she had a sinus infection. That could have been problematic at 39,000 feet. On a Frontier flight, we wound up with priority landing because a passenger had a severe diabetic reaction. Everyone kept their cool, and no one got upset. Concerned, yes, but not upset. As in Carole's story, paramedics met the plane and whisked the passenger off.
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Carole, What a great blog piece! Your literary efforts should go a long way towards counteracting the long-held, but very incorrect belief that flight attendants are just pretty girls or handsome boys who are there to hand out drinks. Quite obviously, all FAs, especially including Southwest's, are highly trained professionals who fortunately do not have to use the full range of their skills too often. I personally had a medical situation once that could have been much more serious than it turned out. As you probably know, one of the great dangers after an organ transplant is the risk that tissue rejection will take place and the host body will 'reject' the new organ. Unwisely flying too soon after a recent operation, I experienced symptoms that had every appearance of severe and possibly fatal organ rejection. The highly intuitive FA immediately recognized what was happening to me and quickly brought me an entire can of Coca-Cola. She chastised me for taking an airplane trip right after my brain transplant and instructed me to go home, get in bed and refrain from blogging for a few days. Thanks to her, a bad situation was avoided and my transplanted organ is working just fine once again just fine once again just fine once again. Kim 🙂
Not applicable
[...] Inflight Emergency - Southwest Airlines flight attendant shares a inflight emergency, how it was handled and how it turned out. Nice look inside the life of a flight attendant. [...]
Maureen4
Explorer C
Do you carry epinephrine on board in case of an anaphylactic reaction? My stepson has peanut allergies and I was curious as to how to handle an epi pen going through security as well as if there were some more onboard the aircraft. Thanks for your great service! I fly Southwest every week and have no interest in flying with anyone else!
morganusvitus
Explorer C
The site looks great ! Thanks for all your help ( past, present and future !)
cadams
Adventurer B
Maureen, yes we have an epi pen. The flight attendants cannot use this without instructions from MedLink or a certified medical professional onboard. We cannot take it upon ourselves to give medicine to young people under the age of 18 - even an aspirin since they could have an allergic reaction. Having MedLink available is a hugh bonus for all. Carole
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Carole, I didn't know that Mr. Grant, the British actor, got a bonus from the use of MedLink. Hmmmmm, wonder if Richard Branson negotiated that for him? LMAO...sorry, I couldn't resist! Kim 🙂
cadams
Adventurer B
Let me change that to HUGE bonus! You see Kim, I've rarely had an opportunity to use that word.
FriendofBlogBoy
Frequent Flyer B
Just teasin' ya... EBB 🙂
Dr__Richard_C__
Explorer C
As a 71 year old, and facing much travel this year, always with you, I want to thank you, Southwest, for all this medical care you have available in flight! Have a great rest of the year, all of you!
Randall_West
Explorer C
There might be a better place to post this, but I hope someone will redirect it to who can address this issue. Your website is easy to navigate with one exception: most drop-down menus need to be selected firmly, i.e. I have to press and hold the mouse button instead of tap the trackpad. I am using a Macintosh OS 10.4.9 and Firefox. Thank you.
CHERYL12
Explorer C
To Maureen, you can carry an epi pen onboard as long as you have the prescription label of the person who is traveling with the epi pen.. Also to the flight attendent, it is great for you to let passengers know about some of the jobs that you do.
Jason3
Explorer C
Great job Carole! In my career as a Paramedic, and believe it or not a former SWA F/A, I have had the opportunity to participate in many of these types of in-flight emergencies myself. They can be quite stressing when your at 30,000 feet. Unquestionably, the fine folks at SWA are well prepared to handle inflight medical incidents very well. Keep up the good work!
Dave_from_Maine
Explorer C
I'm not sure where to post this, but this seems the best place. I just want to say "great job" to yesterday's crew on Flight 726. First a little background. My wife and I went to Buffalo this weekend to see our beloved Patriots beat the Bills. We were returning home yesterday (11/19/07) via SWA. The leg from BUF to BWI was uneventful. We boarded 776 for the trip to MHT, and I could tell right away we had a great crew on board. They were actually very friendly to everyone and made some jokes about listening to the "air goddesses" about safety procedures and explaining that they were dimming the cabin lights to "enhance the beauty" on the flight crew. 🙂 What a difference from the crews we've had on other airlines, who don't even want to make eye contact. Back to the story. During the flight a passenger developed severe head pain. The Flight Attendants got on the PA and asked if there was a doctor on board. No response. Nurse? More silence. My wife and I are both Paramedics and so we offered to help. The crew explained the situation, verified my credentials, and provided a well-stocked medical kit and oxygen. We then worked on assessing and treating the patient, and transferred care to the waiting Paramedics shortly after landing. The crew handled the emergency like seasoned professionals, following their protocols in a calm and caring manner. Great job!
Michelle
Explorer C
I would like to find out who to contact about an incident last week on a Southwest Flight from Portland to Sacramento. My 15 year-old daughter has a peanut allergy, so I called ahead and requested that peanuts not be served on her flights to and from Portland. I had been told previously by a Southwest flight attendant that this was an option for us. This was confirmed, that they would not serve peanuts on her flights. I was asked that she remind them when she boarded the plane, which she did. The flight to Portland was uneventful; no peanuts were served. On the return flight, however, they were handed out to the passengers. In fact, the flight attendant that my daughter spoke to about her allergy when she boarded the plane was the same one who handed them out! Unfortunately, by the time they realized and tried to collect the bags, some had already been opened. My daughter ended up having a severe reaction, having to use 2 of her Epi-pens on board. After that, it seemed the situation was handled properly. Paramedics met the plane at the gate and my daughter was taken to the hospital by ambulance. I am just so thankful that she had both Epi-pens with her and was ot afraid to use them. I hate to think of what might have happened if she hadn't. Anyway, I need to contact someone at Southwest to follow up on the incident. I would also like to mention that I noticed some comments in this blog from other frequent flyers, disgruntled that they may have to be inconveienced by not having peanuts served. One even mentioned it being another case of the will of a few imposed on the many. This is a very dangerous attitude, and unfortunately, many people are ignorant about the dangers of peanut allergies, especially peanuts packaged the way they are and served in a closed environment. I would like to see Southwest step up and discontinue serving peanuts on their flights. It is great that the airline has a policy in place that offers no peanuts served on a flight, but not so great when the policy is not adhered to. Thank you.
blusk
Aviator C
Hi Michelle, I am so sorry to hear of your experience with us. Our Customer Relations folks are aware of your post here, and they will be handling this. Brian
Michelle
Explorer C
Posting here again concerning my daughter's experience on a flight from Portland to Sacramento. I just received a letter in the mail today from Southwest. I am responding here because I was given no contact information for Adrienne E. Browne, who wrote the letter, and was simply referred to contact Aviation Consumer Protection Division if I needed anything further. I did want to clarify a couple of things that were misstated in the letter. Again, my concern is still that policies be followed so that passengers are not given a false sense of security about what is going to happen. I phoned well in advance of the flight to inform Southwest of my daughter's allergy. I was NOT told about a form to fill out - I only found out about it after the fact when I was researching the issue on your website. My daughter informed the female flight attendant as soon as she boarded, as I stated before. This fact was left out of the report. In fact, the two male flight attendants were mentioned in your letter by name, but there was absolutely no reference to the third one, the one she spoke to. There were many on the flight who heard her do this, both people in the group she was traveling with and other passengers she did not previously know. When she saw saw later that peanuts were being handed out, she again said something. That is when the announcement was made to return the unopened bags, but as you know, it was already too late. I appreciate that you responded to my letter and "looked into" the issue, however, I do want to make it clear that your summation of what occurred was inaccurate. We followed to the letter what we were told to do by Southwest employees both before the date of the flight and once my daughter boarded. It seems that the blame was wrongly shifted to my daughter and myself for Southwest's failure to follow your own procedure. I do appreciate Brian Lusk's immediate response on this blog and thank him for forwarding my inquiry. I also want to thank Carole Adams for her e-mail and concern. Again, I would like Southwest to see that although it was an accidental human error on the part of the flight attendant, it still affected another person quite adversely. I still wish that Southwest would follow some of the other airlines and step up on this issue by removing peanuts from their flights. Thank you.
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