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Fainting is the most common in-flight
medical emergency
Washington:
Fainting is the most common in-flight medical
emergency followed by stomach upsets, a German study
suggests. The research published in BioMed Central's
open access journal Critical Care details the number,
type and frequency of medical emergencies on board
two airlines. Michael Sand led a team of researchers
from the University of Bochum, Germany, and the University
of California Los Angeles (UCLA), who analysed 10,189
different emergencies. He said, "Although in-flight
medical emergencies are rare in general, they can
have a significant effect on other passengers and
crew, potentially with operational implications for
the flight. "The breakdown of the various medical
emergencies encountered in our study showed that fainting
was by far the most frequent medical condition, followed
by stomach upsets, and heart conditions". In all,
the authors found 5307 cases of fainting (53.5 percent),
926 cases of gastrointestinal problems (8.9 percent)
and 509 cases related to a cardiac condition (4.9
percent). The highly publicized problem of thrombosis
accounted for a very small number of cases, although
they do occur most often after a flight, rather than
during.
According
to the authors, "Surgical illnesses accounted for
a minor percentage of all on-board emergencies. There
were 47 cases of thrombosis (0.5 percent), 27 appendicitis
cases (0.25 percent) and just one case of gastrointestinal
bleeding (less than 0.1 percent). There were two births
and 52 deaths". The authors highlight that there are
major problems with record keeping about in-flight
emergencies. Out of 32 airlines approached to take
part, 27 did not have the data available, one had
data that was unsuitable and two refused to take part
due to company policy. Sand said, "Standardization
of in-flight medical emergency reporting is necessary
for further larger studies to be conducted, as the
current quality of data is poor". The expert added:
"Considering the fact that cardiac conditions were
the third most common condition seen in this study,
patients with cardiac irregularities may profit from
an on-board automatic external defibrillator. The
same is true for patients with a suspected myocardial
infarction."
-Jan
24, 2009
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