defiance96
Oct 14, 06, 3:45 pm
Is there any sense what frequency of flights result in medical emergencies on B6 or any other airline? Particularly with redeye flying?
My gut sense is that B6, due to all of the night flying, may ultimately have more passengers, not quite up to such a long flight at a strange hour, taking redeyes anyway.
I have now flown 4 redeye legs in the last 12 months, and 2 of the 4 resulted in paramedics being wheeled on to the plane upon arrival at the gate at JFK.
Having had it happen twice, it provides a small comparison of how different crews of people seem to handle the situation. Then again, each situation was different. The first time, it seemed the passenger just took too much of some sedative, and had a bad reaction (dizzy, passing out). Last night, a passenger had some type of breathing issue requiring portable oxygen to be pulled from the back of the plane. While the first situation seemed to begin with the ill person pushing the call button, last night's flight from Phoenix started with the person (relative?) next to the ill passenger screaming out loud for what seemed like 30 to 45 seconds. Very scary when you can't see whats going on.
I guess I felt the first crew had things under control quickly, but it likely was an easier type of response. They also did a very good job at keeping a calm approach. The second crew had mixed result in my mind, as one of the in-flight crew members just seemed to be very flustered/panicy, and since she didn't have a very natural friendly demeanor passing out drinks and snacks, it didn't translate very well when she needed to deal with something more major. (I am not saying she wasn't friendly...but it seemed her natural demeanor was a bit more serious and reserved and business like.)
It appeared the two members dealing directly with the ill passenger stayed near the situation and kept an up-beat attitude. A third seemed to say toward the front of the cabin and monitored what was going on. The fourth (more serious in demeanor) member initially ran down the aisle with oxygen. Then ran back down the aisle returning it, only to then run back to get it a second time. I guess you don't want to keep oxygen flowing in the cabin any longer than necessary, but the resulting scene, combined with a less than natural relaxed rapport with the other passengers just made the situation seem..well...hectic.
I still give this crew, and all crews that deal with these situations a whole lot of credit. I am glad its not my job. Still, watching it happen in real life in front of you is probably different than all of the training you have. If anything, what I take from this is that "remain calm" is sometimes hard to do, and people "remain calm" in different ways. No B6 customer service focused crew member is like any other crew member.
And, in the end, I am confident they will all step up when necessary.
My gut sense is that B6, due to all of the night flying, may ultimately have more passengers, not quite up to such a long flight at a strange hour, taking redeyes anyway.
I have now flown 4 redeye legs in the last 12 months, and 2 of the 4 resulted in paramedics being wheeled on to the plane upon arrival at the gate at JFK.
Having had it happen twice, it provides a small comparison of how different crews of people seem to handle the situation. Then again, each situation was different. The first time, it seemed the passenger just took too much of some sedative, and had a bad reaction (dizzy, passing out). Last night, a passenger had some type of breathing issue requiring portable oxygen to be pulled from the back of the plane. While the first situation seemed to begin with the ill person pushing the call button, last night's flight from Phoenix started with the person (relative?) next to the ill passenger screaming out loud for what seemed like 30 to 45 seconds. Very scary when you can't see whats going on.
I guess I felt the first crew had things under control quickly, but it likely was an easier type of response. They also did a very good job at keeping a calm approach. The second crew had mixed result in my mind, as one of the in-flight crew members just seemed to be very flustered/panicy, and since she didn't have a very natural friendly demeanor passing out drinks and snacks, it didn't translate very well when she needed to deal with something more major. (I am not saying she wasn't friendly...but it seemed her natural demeanor was a bit more serious and reserved and business like.)
It appeared the two members dealing directly with the ill passenger stayed near the situation and kept an up-beat attitude. A third seemed to say toward the front of the cabin and monitored what was going on. The fourth (more serious in demeanor) member initially ran down the aisle with oxygen. Then ran back down the aisle returning it, only to then run back to get it a second time. I guess you don't want to keep oxygen flowing in the cabin any longer than necessary, but the resulting scene, combined with a less than natural relaxed rapport with the other passengers just made the situation seem..well...hectic.
I still give this crew, and all crews that deal with these situations a whole lot of credit. I am glad its not my job. Still, watching it happen in real life in front of you is probably different than all of the training you have. If anything, what I take from this is that "remain calm" is sometimes hard to do, and people "remain calm" in different ways. No B6 customer service focused crew member is like any other crew member.
And, in the end, I am confident they will all step up when necessary.