Should the FA do something?
 

Our son and his wife don't get to travel much so we bought them tickets to fly to Calif. for a few days at Christmas. They were unable to sit together on the flight out but luckily [?] had seats together going back to MN. But a teenager in the seat behind them was vomiting during much of the flight, causing all around him to feel like doing the same! His father FINALLY suggested that he might be more confortable in bathroom, so he finally went for about 20 minutes. Wasn't it the job of the FA to escort him to the bathroom soon after he began throwing up? Is it the passengers's job to take care of this nausiating situation? The flight was not especially rough: maybe it was airline food!

It would seem like a good idea to immediately get over to the lav if you were vomiting.

This sounds like a case of the stomach flu.

The F/A might have suggested that the pax use the lav, but the decision rested with the passenger and his family.

I don't know if there are official guidelines for this type of situation.

If your flight had empty seats elsewhere on the a/c I would have moved to another seat.

Did anyone move, or ask the FA for permission to change seats?

The FA could have possibly offered the pax additional motion sickness bags, but what else were they suppose to do?

RC

People who vomit a lot can get dehydrated and have reactions resulting in low blood pressure, making it difficult (and sometimes dangerous) to stand up in a lav. They may need to lie down or sit to avoid passing out, if it's bad enough. The pax is the best judge of if he feels up to walking to the lav.

The FA should try and make sure the vomiting passenger is safe and not so sick that the flight will have to make an emergency landing, or so sick you have to call for a doctor overhead.

I don't know what NW policy is, but on a recent WBC flight I was on DTW-FRA a pax started violently vomiting (was it the fish dish or all the refills on wine?) and the helpful FA, after making sure the pax had extra emesis bags, immediately moved the seatmate to another seat (he immediately accepted the offer http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif)and then helped assist the vomiting pax with comfort and clean-up. She did not or could not rush him to the lav (he went there shortly after things settled down, embarassed, to change his clothing).

Did the F/As see him vomiting? Did they make any effort?