We performed a one-year prospective survey of emergency medical responses to travelers at an international airport to observe the frequency and type of emergencies experienced in flight and before and after travel. Emergency personnel evaluated a total of 1107 people; 754 (68%) were travelers, 232 (21%) were employees of the airport or airlines, and 118 (11%) were area residents. Of the 754 travelers, 190 (25%) experienced their problem during flight; the aircraft made an unscheduled landing for seven of these travelers. The frequency of in-flight emergencies was 1 per 753 inbound flights, or 1 per 39,600 inbound passengers. The most common emergency problems among all travelers were abdominal pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, syncope, and seizures; 25% of the emergencies were caused by minor trauma. The majority of emergencies among air travelers (75% [564/754]) happened on the ground within the air terminal. Most problems (84% [633/754]) were effectively handled by personnel trained as emergency medical technicians. The types of problems encountered suggest that the "doctors only" medical kit now required aboard US air carriers contains clinically useful items and should continue to be required on board.
Do passenger deaths occur during commercial air travel? If so, how often and from what causes? We reviewed information reported to the International Air Transport Association on in-flight deaths that occurred during commercial air travel for the eight years between 1977 and 1984. Of the 120 airlines in the International Air Transport Association, 42 carriers reported deaths during these eight years. A total of 577 in-flight deaths were recorded, for a reported average of 72 deaths per year. Deaths occurred at average rates of 0.31 per million passengers, 125 per billion passenger-kilometers, and 25.1 per million departures. The majority of those who died were men (66%, 382/577) and middle-aged (mean age, 53.8 years). Most of the individuals (77%, 399/515) reported no health problems prior to travel. Physicians aboard the aircraft offered medical assistance for 43% (247/577) of the deaths. More than half of the deaths (56%, 326/577) seemed to be related to cardiac problems. Sudden unexpected cardiac death was the cause of death in 63% (253/399) of the apparently healthy people and seems to be the major cause of death during air travel. These observations support the initiation of programs to train cabin personnel in the skills of basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation and in the use of automatic external defibrillators.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.