EMS Flight Stressors and Corrective Action
| Autor: | Salzman SM; USAF, Vargas MJ, Clemente Fuentes RW; USUHS |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | 2022 Jan. |
| Abstrakt: | One in 11000 people who travel by commercial air experienced an in-flight medical emergency. This equates to an emergency in 1 out of every 604 flights, 17% of those patients required hospital care upon landing. The environmental conditions and activities involved in flight operations can cause exacerbation of pathology in otherwise stable human physiology and psychology. Flight physicians are subject matter experts in the identification, prevention, and management of the impact of flight-related stressors on physiology. Patient risk factors include advanced age, anxiety, altered circadian rhythm, drug/alcohol intake, and flight associated environmental stressors. Stresses of flight may include exposure to low oxygen levels, hypobaric and hyperbaric changes, micro and macro gravity, vibration, or impact. During a flight, most healthy people can easily tolerate these stresses; however, they can result in acute worsening of pathology in those with stable chronic conditions. Alternatively, passengers can have acute exacerbations of medical conditions unrelated to flight but while in the aircraft. When someone falls ill on a flight, crews are directed to ask for any health care professional to assist, and any who step forward are protected legally by the 1998 Aviation Medical Assistance Act (AMAA). Medically trained persons onboard should step forward, identifying themselves. The most experienced member should take charge, utilizing the CPR trained flight crew, and take initial steps to stabilize the patient using the on-board first aid kit, emergency medical bag, and automatic external defibrillator (AED) on board. If needed, ground-based physicians are reachable for a consult by the crew on radio frequencies. These actions also help the crew to determine if it is necessary to divert to an alternate airfield for an immediate landing. (Copyright © 2022, StatPearls Publishing LLC.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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