In-flight medical emergencies on rise
MedAire, an Arizona-based company that provides emergency medical advice to airlines, says that the rate of medical emergencies aboard commercial flights nearly doubled from 2000 to 2006, from 19 to 35 per 1 million passengers. According to a report in USA Today, the increasing rate of medical incidents are based largely on the combination of the rising number of older passengers and the number of flights that travel farther and, thus, keep passengers in the air longer.
A few highlights from the USA Today analysis:
- Since Jan. 1, 2003, there have been 95 passenger fatalities from airline accidents. But at least 219 passengers have died on the U.S. flights during the same period.
- Passengers age 51 and older accounted for 83% of 63 in-flight deaths in 2006. That age group accounted for 59% of 550 medical-related flight diversions in 2006.
According to USA Today, the newspaper sent questionnaires to 60 airlines asking about in-flight medical emergencies. Few responded: Express Jet, Sun Country and Virgin Atlantic. Then, USA Today reports, the Air Transport Association stepped in. “Nobody is going to complete the survey,” spokesman David Castelveter said. “We’ve spoken with them about it, and that is where we are going to draw the line.” Through the ATA, airlines collectively described their reasons for not releasing information: “Data are not kept in this format; records are not readily accessible; information is proprietary or protected by privacy policies; or time and resource constraints prevent us from preparing a meaningful response.”
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