Medical assistance during commercial airline flights: analysis of 11 years experience of the Paris emergency medical service (SAMU) between 1989 and 1999

Outcomes of Medical Emergencies on Commercial Airline Flights

“…2 Although previous studies of these events have characterized the incidence, categories of symptoms, rates of aircraft diversion, and resources accessed, many have used information obtained from single airlines and have lacked information on patient outcomes. 1,3-9 …”

Fatalities Above 30,000 Feet

“…When a medical emergency arises during flight, care is provided by crewmembers and volunteers with a medical background and increasingly more often in consultation with a specialized ground-based medical support (GBMS) center (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). The majority of pediatric in-flight emergencies are related to infections (fever and otitis media), neurological conditions (syncope and seizures), and respiratory issues (asthma exacerbations) (7).…”

In-Flight Medical Emergencies

“…Table 1 demonstrates the wide range of estimates generated by analyzing data from single airports or carriers. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Most are retrospective cohort studies. Qureshi, et al, 13 in a study published in 2005, retrospectively studied data from a single international carrier and characterized 507 medical incidents reported over a 6-month period in 2002.…”

“…Table 2 provides a breakdown of the types of in-flight medical incidents reported. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Once again, the lack of standardized data sources and the overlapping categorizations become evident through the wide-ranging results. The table nevertheless highlights common complaints and alludes to the predominant organ systems affected by the in-flight environment.…”