dergon darkhelm

I've been the medical professional assisting 5-6 times. Got thanked I think once. Never any miles. Never anything else.

Didn't upset me. Just saying.

RockyBalboa

How in the hell do airline employees not even say thank you to a doctor who assisted a sick passenger?!

Sadly I am not surprised that there are such callous people out there. But I find is appalling that a flight attendant, a service industry profession, can't mutter thank you or even pretend to care.

Common courtesy is dead.

bloodyeyeballs

My favorite one was when the attendants asked for a doctor, and there was nothing really wrong with the person. She was just a 70 year old woman insisting that she wasn't feeling well and wanted a doctor to look at her. I recommended she drink water or something. After seeing her the attendants thanked me profusely as she was a difficult person.

GeoMedic

I've had a flurry of dramamine induced syncopies lately. Usually big people who think if one's good, two or three must be even better.

clubord

If that truly is the case, that's just sad. As pilots we use the information provided by Medlink in combination with the observations from individuals like yourself to determine diversions/continue on course, declaration of a medical emergencies, etc. You are a great resource of information to us.

As an airline professional....I thank you!

RobertS975

Different experience with this physician flying mostly Delta... crew always thanked me effusively, and at least some attempt at a token "reward", once a couple bottles of unopened chardonnay wrapped in a bag. And twice, I have received huge gift baskets delivered to home within a week of the medical assist.

dergon darkhelm

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/conti...r-board-2.html

hah--obviously I've inflated my "doc on board" stats---a year ago i said 4 times.

It's like a fish story, I guess

skylady

In addition to the crew thanking you, I would also expect the patient, if concious, should thank you!

ani90

I once attended to a pax and he wanted my address so he could send me my fee - i think he must have been american (this was on a european flight) as he found it strange when I said no need for that.

bloodyeyeballs

I was on flight 172 from HNL-LAX on 2/5 and a passenger had a medical event and passed away on the flight. There were 2 physicians on the plane and we both were involved for more than an hour trying to resuscitate him with CPR, IV drugs, etc.

During and after the flight, I was thanked by the flight crew, including the pilot.

As part of the paperwork, I provided the flight crew with my contact information. Today I received a letter from Continental and a deposit or 25,000 miles into my onepass account. This is more than I expected, although my expectations were low.

trooper

Sorry to hear about the "negative outcome"

I'm sure you did all you could... and I hope you know how your willingness to try really IS appreciated!

LAX

Just curious, I am assuming those meds were in the onboard first aid kit, right? I doubt the TSA would let medical professional through security with IVs & meds (other than pills).

LAX

bloodyeyeballs

The kit was onboard. They had a portable defibrillator, which flat lined, so we gave epinephrine and atropine. Two doses of each were in their emergency kit. They also had lidocaine for vtach or vfib, but I suspect the patient was dead before I even started. There was also mold on the paper wrappers, as one of the IV bags had leaked, which is no surprise due to the change in atmospheric pressure with numerous take-offs and landings. Fortunately, we did not need all the fluids, but the last inspection date was March, 2010, and perhaps inspecting the kit more often than once a year would be more appropriate.

The kit they had was comprehensive, but was lacking a $90 pulse oximeter. There was a medical consultant available by phone to assist, but I debriefed with a friend who is an anesthesiologist, and for all intents and purposes, the only thing that would have been done differently on ground was to intubate the patient. The patient did vomit, and this may have contributed to denying us the ability to oxygenate his lungs, but again, he was likely dead before we even started.

To answer your question, I have carried injectable drugs and needles onboard before, and have sometimes been questioned by TSA, but never been denying passing through.

svancleavemd

In both 2009 and 2010, I provided emergency care on a CO flight from Europe to the USA. CO gave me 25,000 OP miles and sent a letter of thanks. I did not ask for, nor expect any compensation as I gave my time and services a good samaritan. The reason that CO knew who I was, is that the Flight Service Manager asked for my name and OP number.

I am Board Certified,and practice, both Emergency and Internal Medicine, so I do feel qualified to offer assistance. In 2009, we were returning from ZRH to EWR, when a passenger developed fever and shortness of breath. Fortunately, between my own emergency supplies and the planes emergency kit, we (my wife and I) were able to treat the very ill passenger and continue to EWR. (Otherwise we would have diverted to KEF.) The paramedics met our plane in EWR, and the ill passenger went straight to the hospital.

GeoMedic

An actual defibrillator with a monitor and multiple leads as opposed to just the standard AED?

Well, as we say, there is dead and there is dead dead. Very hard to run a code with less than 10 minutes of epi!

Change in pressure should have no effect on the liquid and the very minor amount of gas in the bag would have not alter the situation... otherwise Denver's ambulances and hospitals would be leaking all over the place.

What were the dates on the meds? It is a bit troubling that nobody seems to be checking the kits at least quarterly.