AVIATION GLOBAL (COMMONWEALTH UNION) – when one was to watch any kind of movie and there is a scene on the plane where there is some kind of medical emergency on the plane and the stewards shout “is there a doctor on flight” there is always a doctor.
Doesn’t matter what kind of doctor but there is always a doctor. It is very rare that there isn’t one and this bring up the question if this would even happen in real life, whereby if one were to have a real medical emergency on flight international or domestic what is the guarantee that there will be a doctor on board.
Airlines that have massive fleet and are known for being luxury crafts once considered the possibility of having a doctor on board for flights. But those discussions did not really go far considering the cost it would take to have a doctor that was qualified to some what deal with any emergency. But of course, that would be included in the price one pays when purchasing an air ticket.
Although in the movies it seems that absolutely zero protocol is followed when letting people board planes. For example, there is no way a woman so far in her pregnancy would ever be able to board a plane but in the movies it does happen. There are also of course disclaimers about people with certain illnesses as well such as heart disease or high pressure even people who have pace makers.
Although now with the growth in technology and science people who have issues such as pace makers can still travel with out there being a kind of disturbance to their pace makers or such. but there is a tiny chance that something could happen and if it did should all airline have a doctor on board.
Lufthansa was one of the airlines that seriously considered the possibility of a doctor on board policy. But the logistical nightmare it proved to be just on paper was not going to be successful in practice. There are a lot of things to be considers. The main thing being if it’s a high fleet and their flight routes. There has to also then be a somewhat of a medical sterile area for this doctor to keep his medial items. And it cannot be just one doctor there has to be a roster of doctors so that there is a distribution of responsibility.
This whole thing would cost the air line a fortune as the doctors has to be paid for that they would be missing out on being a doctor at a hospital. There was also the fact that if nothing ever happened on board a flight would customers still continue to pay for a doctor that was never used. All these problems became too much for the airlines.
Of course, it was implemented that the crew have enough medial training to keep thing under control till the pilot can land the craft in the nearest airport and get the passenger the medical help they need. If one were to ask 100 pilots how many times, they have needed a doctor on board not even 10% would answer that they have had such medical emergencies.
This again boils down to the fact that the airlines have strict guidelines as to how a person’s health must be before they are to travel. People are pre warned that they need a somewhat clean bill of health before they get on a plane as it is different making a journey by car. This only concludes what the airlines have been saying that there need not always be a doctor on board.