ukdoctor

This can be a bit of an issue if you check with your insurance company( I assume that you are a doctor).I did tend to a very sick person on a flight to the United Kingdom a few years ago.This was not on EK by the way. I did the appropriate treatment for the patient and the patient was admitted in a hospital soon after arrival and made a full recovery.

I contacted my Medical Insurance Company as soon as I landed and asked for their opinion in case things had gone wrong.I was informed that as long as I did it as an emergency case on humanitarian grounds I would be okay. However they were very clear and said that they would not cover me if it was a fee paying service(i.e if I had a monetary gain out of it)

I was just getting to know flyertalk at the time (Yes I admit, I did spend more than 2 years lurking) and checked with them regarding the legal position of upgrades/free ticket vouchers etc.
Their legal postion was very clear. If you accept an upgrade then It 'could' be considered as material gain and you would not be covered in case things go wrong.

I was contacted by the station manager of the airline (It was not EK) and was offered vouchers for my next trip. I did spend most of the flight sorting out the passenger anyway and it did seem fair at the time. However I had to refuse the offer as I was concerned about the legal implications in case things go wrong

ukdoctor

It doesnt matter though in the grand scheme of things. I still get christmas cards from the family every year. And I have met them twice since then. It's better than any op up I have ever had.

father_ted

The OP's case is an interesting one. There is no good reason for the airline to ask the customer's permission as after all they have only purchased one seat.

If all pax were considerate FT'ers then of course, let everyone be upgraded. I'm someone who lowers his window-shade, has acceptable personal hygiene and when inebriated keeps quiet and passes out in his own seat with his clothes still on. There are unfortunately many flyers who do the opposite, while bragging loudly on the in-seat telephone about how they got upgraded.

I'd probably ask more about the customers to be upgraded, to make sure I was not opening the F cabin to screaming children (or adults)...

simonsmith

Interesting : The MDU will cover you in these situations as much as they would in any other. I have been called upon 14 times now so made sure this was the case. You may be interested in the virgin airways doctor on board course which i went on and was excellent. It covers all these sort of areas.

edy4eva

When you attended to the emergency you obviously had no intent in gaining any monetary value out of it. You certainly did not book and board that particular flight with the hope to get some form of reward for caring for a would-be ill passenger. The offer to upgrade you (or give vouchers) came after you had delivered treatment.

The patient did not pay or give you anything for your service. The airline solely chose to compensate you for the inconvenience caused to you as a passenger. Though I can see how you might have been exposed liability wise should the patient had complications post treatment.

I find this very interesting.

ukdoctor

This was the advice from my insurance company.They were clear that I should not accept any payment from the airline in cash or gifts .As you mentioned this was probably due to concerns regarding the long term outcome .