Emergency Landing on Flight Last Night

Well done.


Seen a few medical emergencies, getting the O2 bottle out etc. On what worrying trip on 3 planes there were 3 medical emergencies. The ithe first plane was delayed because it got diverted dropping off a medical emergency,. GOt on the plane, took off and within minuted someone was having some kind of fit and breathing difficulties but it was a short 30 minute flight we were half way though so we just continued. Changed planes and then an hour before landing someone had a suspected heart attacked but there was no closer airport that could land the plane so we also continued but with a rapid descent and and a queue jump.


Must be scary to get seriously ill at 35,000 feet.
 
Werewolf said:
Re the medical equipment I suspect big carriers will have the same loadout on all the aircraft (as they might be doing short runs one day and a longer one another), but it's good to know they carry that sort of stuff :)
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This was what really surprised us. There was an incredible amount of equipment there, half of which none of us were properly trained for to be honest eg. intubation, though thankfully we didn't need it. The other really stand out point for all of us was small things that we take for granted in hospitals such as putting up fluids for example. In hospital nurses will do all this for us and none of us had done this since medical school so took a bit longer that it should but we got there in the end.

Minstadave said:
Diverted a long haul flight because of a lady repeatedly losing consciousness last year. Had to have a right go at the pilot because the ground medic they were in communication with wanted us to continue flying for another 7 hours.

Whole episode was a comedy of errors, air steward didn't want help as he was determined he knew what he was doing, then panicked when he got out of his depth. Crew wouldn't provide the medical kit at first because they didn't think it necessary, then someone was using it already on a child (I'm a paediatrician so offered to sort that too). Argued with the pilot to land. Total moron of a Turkish Doctor telling me the unconscious lady was having a panic attack whilst his much more sensible nurse was shouting at him to take her off the plane.

Nice upgrade to business class though and the Pilot gave me his personal details and a thank you letter once he realised she really was quite unwell.

Cost the airline a small fortune but couldn't care less tbh.
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Thankfully we didn't have any major issues with the flight crew and tbh neither the pilot nor the first officer even came over to thank us which I thought was a little pathetic but more importantly the flight attendants did very well and were very supportive. I guess its a difficult call, especially on a long haul to divert. My wife was technically the most senior as a qualified GP and tends to be quite cautious so I was definitely most impressed when she made the call to land. Not quite an upgrade for us but we got some vouchers :)
 
My wife's a GP too and left me to it - I haven't done adults for years!

We were a motley crew, a GP, a paediatrician and a Consultant Urologist - no cardiologist or intensivist to hand.

Think it's the third time I've helped out on a plane. I rememberer once being on total autopilot and asking a steward to do a blood sugar as if they were a nurse and getting a very blank look in response. It's funny trying to do all the things you take for granted at work
 
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Well done, and congratulations to you both, there are people looking over us all the time, and yes you deserve some form of award or recognition. Maybe get in thouch with Lufthansa, and see if they know about the patient, and contact them.
 
shadow_boxer said:
I know this costs the airlines huge amounts of money so I think it's something the crew wouldn't take lightly and tbh it was a huge relief when they agreed to land.
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There was a good documentary on the BBC earlier in the year looking at how the airline industry works behind the scenes.

With medical emergencies, it was interesting to learn how there is basically an always staffed control centre with doctors making the decision as to whether a flight should be diverted based on the symptoms reported by flight crew (or medical professionals offering assistance).

I'd always just assumed it was a case of re-routing to the nearest airport if there was an emergency, but they have a lot in place to handle such issues.
 
Nexus said:
There was a good documentary on the BBC earlier in the year looking at how the airline industry works behind the scenes.

With medical emergencies, it was interesting to learn how there is basically an always staffed control centre with doctors making the decision as to whether a flight should be diverted based on the symptoms reported by flight crew (or medical professionals offering assistance).

I'd always just assumed it was a case of re-routing to the nearest airport if there was an emergency, but they have a lot in place to handle such issues.
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Last time I looked into it a diverted flight it is well into 6 figures in terms of cost (fuel, rebooking flights, accommodation, fees etc).

Most airlines use a ground medical advice service but legally the senior medic on board overrides everyone else.

Nearly every passenger missed their connecting flight when we diverted as we spent several hours on the ground in Ankara. The airline purposefully held our flight for us to say thank you. We got on the plane and everyone was waiting in their seats! Fortunately they put me, my wife and her very excited little sister in business class for the 14 hour second leg.
 
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Minstadave said:
My wife's a GP too and left me to it - I haven't done adults for years!

We were a motley crew, a GP, a paediatrician and a Consultant Urologist - no cardiologist or intensivist to hand.

Think it's the third time I've helped out on a plane. I rememberer once being on total autopilot and asking a steward to do a blood sugar as if they were a nurse and getting a very blank look in response. It's funny trying to do all the things you take for granted at work
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This is just it. We just don't do these things regularly enough. Took two of us a good couple of minutes to figure out the BM machine and even then we got an odd reading due the units they use so had to figure out how to convert them! Definitely an eye opening experience to say the least. We had a GP, GPST1, surgical CT1 and an FY2, so all fairly junior (which can sometimes be advantageous I guess in acute things where it the bread and butter of oncall shifts).

Nexus said:
There was a good documentary on the BBC earlier in the year looking at how the airline industry works behind the scenes.

With medical emergencies, it was interesting to learn how there is basically an always staffed control centre with doctors making the decision as to whether a flight should be diverted based on the symptoms reported by flight crew (or medical professionals offering assistance).

I'd always just assumed it was a case of re-routing to the nearest airport if there was an emergency, but they have a lot in place to handle such issues.
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That's interesting and I'm sure Lufthansa would presumably have something similar in place. None of us actually spoke to anyone on the ground so I assume the flight attendants were (hopefully) relaying the information.
 
We must have only been in the air around 10-15 minutes that the most when it all started so I presume we continued to climb to the assigned cruising altitude before diverting to Venice.
 
Well played, that man :cool:

Crass question: did you get upgraded to first class for your service?
 
How much would this cost an airline to divert? Do they try and avoid it unless there is something life threatening occuring?
 
I have wondered how often a medically trained professional is on a flight.

Then I wonder whether I might have to spring into action. I have done the odd first aider course, plus I'm a biological scientist, so odds are I am a bit more clued up than others about which bits of the body should go where.

Hmm.. maybe its worth looking to see if there is an advanced first aid course to sign up to. The OP's story was quite an edge case, but still, principle is its horrible if someone dies because nobody else around knew how to help.
 
Well done on sorting them out! Thankfully we've never had to do anything like this *touches wood*. I imagine it's pretty nerve wracking out of the comfort of the hospital.
 
chef-borjan said:
I have wondered how often a medically trained professional is on a flight.

Then I wonder whether I might have to spring into action. I have done the odd first aider course, plus I'm a biological scientist, so odds are I am a bit more clued up than others about which bits of the body should go where.

Hmm.. maybe its worth looking to see if there is an advanced first aid course to sign up to. The OP's story was quite an edge case, but still, principle is its horrible if someone dies because nobody else around knew how to help.
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Not that it happens all the time but I've been on a few flights with minor medical emergencies (usually someone who hasn't taken well to flying) and I don't recall there ever not being someone with medical training responding.
 
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