FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - A heart attack mid-flight

Sep 6, 2005 | 7:33 pm

#33

Kman

Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: 7 miles from SFO;

Programs: UA 1MM (finally!!), but sadly no longer 1K

Posts: 126

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsgoldbe

. . . LH offered him a bottle of wine as a show of thanks. He thought an upgrade to C for him and his family on the return would be better compensation for having to be away from his family for most of the flight. LH resisted, but finally gave two out of the family of four upgrades to C.

Does a bottle of wine seem like minimal compensation for a person who is interrupting their vacation or business trip to essentiall help out the airline and save them many $$$ by not having the flight be forced to land early?

I'm a licensed physician, but not a practicing one (I design research trials), so I don't jump up instantly at the first call for "is there a doctor on board" because I look for someone more qualified than I am to step in, but if I dont see any movement, I have nonetheless often responded to calls for medical help, and once (only) got a bottle of wine and a nice card from the Captain. And I wouldn't have thought that I was doing it to "help out the airline", but rather to help another person. To think that I should have been "compensated" for doing what I am trained to do on behalf of another human being in need is preposterous. I do it because I can (and since I can, I must). How could any physician stand by and watch someone in real need, and not do something about it?

P.S. Was your relative and his family flying in C to begin with, or did he think that this was a good way to get an Op/Up from coach?

(I'll get down from my soapbox now)

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