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Helped someone a few years ago on a plane to Italy in the middle of the Atlantic, had some new-onset angina. Found another flyer on the plane with a beta blocker and with some O2 he got better. Can't remember if I was given a bottle of wine or not. Now that I am not a resident anymore I usually buy drinks on the plane so no more helping.
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Closest I've come is a guy collapsing on the lady in front of me coming back from the bathroom.
I was hung over after a bachelor party in Mexico, and was having some "hair of the dog" on my way home. Fortunately two talented ladies showed up, one an ER nurse, and the other I didn't hear, but she knew her stuff.
Turned out to be a vaso-vagal episode after some strenuous potty time, and the lady who knew her stuff was also a dentist.
I had one more round.Comment
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I was on a flight with wifi but you had to pay for it.
Volunteered to help of course after 1-2 minutes of nobody else getting up. It was a kid with hives. No signs of anaphylaxis. The medical kit actually had benedryl, although the flight attendants were clueless b/c it was only labeled generic.
Me: "I'm an ob-gyn. I don't normally treat kids. I'm not sure what the right dose of benedryl is, but if I had internet access I could look it up"
Flight attendant: Shrugs shoulders
So she got 25 of benedryl. I got a free drink. But as others have said, best not to accept compensation b/c then you can be sued for a bad outcomeComment
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I have been in a position to assist on a flight several times. The more serious one was a patient with chest pain and pulmonary edema. I have also helped with diabetic hypoglycemia, an allergic reaction, and a panic attack mid-Pacific ocean.
The airline once offered thanks in the form of a 10k frequent flyer voucher.
The funniest instance was the time that the co-pilot came out of the cockpit back to the rear of the aircraft to speak with the flight attendant to see about the patient we were assisting. The co-pilot advised that their ground crew medical control physician would be informed and would be the one to make the decision whether we would be making an emergency landing or not, thank you very much. The co-pilot wrote down my name on a scrap of paper because apparently the ground crew wanted to check me out. Perhaps I was a podiatrist or dermatologist, or maybe a dentist or an EMT, he didn't really explain what he was doing.
The co-pilot returned after a couple of minutes. I was curious what the ground crew physician had to say. The co-pilot advised that the ground physician's advice was, "Whatever you say is what we were told to do." Apparently they had checked me out and found I was faculty at a fancy pants university teaching hospital, board certified in critical care and emergency medicine as well as a couple of other relevant areas. "Whatever you say doc." Hahah!Comment
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4-5 times.
All on international flights Never had any compensationComment
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You guys are bad luck! I'm not flying with any of you.Comment
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I’ve been volunteered at least four times. usually I’m sleeping and my physician wife punches me and volunteers me so she doesn’t have to.
I get promised lots of things from the airlines, such as frequent flier miles and upgrades, but I’ve never actually received anything. nor do I really want anything.
never had to have flight diverted.
Exactly. Flying on Alitalia when doc call comes out. Must have been in Italian followed by English. My physician wife looks the attendant in the eye, points to me, and says, “He’s a doctor!” Thanks, honey. Ends up being an older Italian woman who probably had a syncopal episode. By the time I even got to her and tried to get some information she seemed to have recovered. Back to seat. End of story. But I never let my wife forget. Especially since her specialty has better emergency training than mine.Comment
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Older guy behind me apparently wasn't responding to a stewardess and then the person sitting next to him. They call for a doctor. I take off my headphones when I see people looking at the guy behind me.
Me (shaking him gently): Sir, are you ok?
Man (waking up): Yes.
Then ***ruhruhruhruhruh*** 3 EMTs show up who were on the plane together and proceed to give him O2, lay him on the ground, start an IV and IVF, all after getting a normal vital sign check.
Me: Guys, I think he was just sleeping.
***ruhruhruhruhruh***
EMTs proceed to run their differential, make an in-flight phone call to the son (whose contact info the man quite lucidly directed them to on his cell phone). Man (looking up at me) and I proceed to have a pleasant conversation about his past medical history and lack of symptoms with 3 EMTs huddled around him.
***ruhruhruhruhruh***Comment
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You guys are scaring me. Its never happened and now I am thinking it will tomorrow. Though coming from LA going to this conference theres a high likelihood of a real doctor being on the plane. Unless someone comes down with a case of needing implants stat, I cant imagine being of any use.Comment
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You guys are scaring me. Its never happened and now I am thinking it will tomorrow. Though coming from LA going to this conference theres a high likelihood of a real doctor being on the plane. Unless someone comes down with a case of needing implants stat, I cant imagine being of any use.
Is there a medical professional on board the aircraft? We have an in-flight emergency in seat 36D.Comment
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My story. In 2010, a friend and I were heading to S. Africa for the World Cup. It was a direct flight from Atlanta to Jo-berg. A guy traveling alone had a seizures. There were 3 MDs on the plane. One older, relatively, CT surgeon, me and a younger trauma surgeon (we were both about a year out of training). After the CT surgeon saw that there were 2 others of us, he promptly went back to his seat in 1st class and told us if we needed any help to get him. We were about 5 or 6 hours into our 14 hour flight. We called overhead, got some other passengers to donate some benzos and treated this seizures. Checked his BG, etc, started an IV. I sat with the guy for the rest of the flight. I had to talk to the pilot and crew about what we needed to do. We also consulted with the medical team Delta contracted with. Basically, the pilot told me we had the option of landing in some country in Africa that had civil unrest and probably wasn't the safest place. The patient was stable, and had no more seizures (had 2 total) after a couple doses of Valium, so I decided we should try to continue on. Once we landed, we stayed behind to help transfer him to EMS who was on the ground waiting for us. We were told we would get upgraded to 1st class on the way back, but all I ended up getting out of it was some free ice cream that the 1st class passengers got.Comment
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@RogueDadMD and I made an arrangement before our flight to SLC:
He would cover any pediatric emergencies, up to age 95, and if anyone needed a Gtube change or replacement, I would take care of itComment
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@RogueDad and I made an arrangement before our flight to SLC:
He would cover any pediatric emergencies, up to age 95, and if anyone needed a Gtube change or replacement, I would take care of it
I think you should also be responsible for placing any IVC filters if there is a PE.Comment
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A woman in my EM residency class took care of an epileptic seizure that had terminated prior to her seeing the patient leaving the poor guy post ictal (ie doing nothing, give 02 for a few minutes to feel like you are being helpful) and she got 100k frequent flyer miles from KLM.Comment
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@RogueDad and I made an arrangement before our flight to SLC:
He would cover any pediatric emergencies, up to age 95, and if anyone needed a Gtube change or replacement, I would take care of it
I think you should also be responsible for placing any IVC filters if there is a PE.
No-can-do. Need a fluoro table for that.
Flight long over and uneventful.Comment
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