A Primary Care Primer On The Risks Of Commercial Air Travel

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 07 Jan 2009 - 4:00 PST

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Now that the holiday travel season is upon us, more of your patients may be taking to the skies. But some of them may have more serious problems to contend with than long lines, delayed flights, and missing luggage.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Medical Institute estimates that the number of medical emergencies aboard commercial airline flights has risen from 19 to 35 per million passengers between 2000 and 2006.1 Although this number does not seem particularly striking, it does not include problems in travelers on the ground, so it may underestimate the true magnitude of this issue. The FAA suggests that older passengers and longer flights contribute to this trend. It is also possible that the stress created by lengthy security clearances and delayed flights plays a role.

A recent attempt to survey various carriers about the exact number of medical emergencies was unsuccessful; there is no legal requirement to report these statistics. However, STAT MD, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center initiative that provides emergency consultation to 8 airlines around the clock, estimated that it received about 1500 calls for in-flight medical issues in the first 7 months of 2008. That is a more substantive number and therefore more disconcerting. How significant were the contents of these calls? About 6% of the calls led to an emergency landing so that the sick passengers could receive more intensive diagnosis and treatment.

GREGORY W. RUTECKI, MD

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