Doctor on Board
Sentences
01: We have a passenger with severe chest pain.
02: That could force us to land at the nearest airport.
03: Flight attendants can't handle cardiac arrest.
04: Suppose there's no serious help on board.
05: That happened to a flight I was on last year.
06: Maybe there's no doctor on board.
07: He might be a pediatrician, not a heart specialist.
08: What the flight carries is up to the carrier.
09: There is some regulation of medical kits.
10: Let's ask her what we've got on board.
11: She told the doctor she's a heavy smoker.
12: The doctor gave her a sedative and a sleeping pill.
13: Would it be a breach of airline policy to tell us?
14: Some airlines don't carry defibrillation equipment.
15: It can make the difference betvveen life and death.
16: Half the patients we can save need no more than that.
17: There seems to be a problem at times with physicians.
18: We can't deliver that kind of guarantee.
19: Many feel that it's their duty to help out charge-free.
20: I feel a lot more comfortable flying with your airline.
Today's Vignette
Flight attendant:
Your attention, please. We have a passenger with severe chest pain. ls there a doctor on board? [Puuse] I repeat, do we have a doctor on board?
Hiromi Araki:
Uh-oh. Sounds like a medical emergency.
Lee Seymoor:
Look, there is someone heading forward. He could be a doctor.
Sandy Liu:
I hope so. And I hope it's not a heart attack. That could force us to land at the nearest airport. Flight attendants can't handle cardiac arrest.
Araki:
Actually, that depends on the airline. lf there's a defibrillator on board, at least one crew member will know how to use it. But it is better to have a doctor do it.
Liu:
You bet. Suppose there's no serious help on board, Help on ale ground could be hours away.
Araki:
The airlines tend to keep their lips zipped about onboard medical crises. They don't like to talk about it. And there aren't any international rules that spell out what to do.
Seymour:
Even so, if it can't be handled on board, most airline pilots will get the plane down on a landing strip as fast as possible. Maybe that means dumping fuel and a couple of hours wait for refueling. But the patient is rushed to a local hospital as soon as humanly possible. That happened to a flight I was on last year. No one minded the delay.
Seymour:
Naturally, we all wished the patient would hang in and survive.
Liu:
So would I. But it's an iffy situation. Maybe there's no doctor on board. If there is one, he might be a pediatrician, not a heart specialist. Another thing that rattles my cage is that you don't know what drugs or medical equipment the airplane carries, and you don't know if the cabin crew has first aid or paramedical training.
Araki:
You're right about that. Again, there's no universal regulation. What the flight carries is up to the carrier. However, most airlines put their cabin crews through first aid training for anything from a day to a week once every couple of years.
Seymour:
There is some regulation of medical kits. The Joint Aviation Authorities in several European countries insist that flights have first aid and medical emergency kits on board. But the U.S. regulations are looser. For example, there's no movement for carriers to stock drugs to treat severe pain or panic attacks.
Liu:
Even so, most U.S. carriers have medical kits that surpass the minimum required by federal regulation. There's the flight attendant who paged the doctor headed this way. Let's ask her what we've got on board. Excuse me, how's the patient doing?
Attendant:
Just fine. It wasn't cardiac.
Attendant:
She told the doctor she's a heavy smoker. She's headed back home after a vacation in the South Pacific. She had to change flights three times. All the flights were smokeless and so were the transit lounges in the airports. She had nowhere to puff away. The lack of nicotine caused the chest pain. The doctor gave her a sedative and a sleeping pill. She's in dreamland until we touch down in New York.
Seymour:
We're wondering what you've got on board for medical emergencies. Would it be a breach of airline policy to tell us?
Attendant:
Not at all. We carry three different kits. One can only be opened by a doctor. lt's got drugs for cardiac and allergic episodes as well as diabetic shock. Then there's our standard first aid kit. And a third kit to treat passengers who bleed or vomit.
Liu:
That reassures me to some extent. But what about a case of cardiac arrest? Do you have equiprrlellt on board for that?
Attendant:
We certainly do. We can defibrillate patients if we don't have a doctor who knows how to do it, and we've all been trained in resuscitation techniques.
Araki:
Some airlines don't carry defibrillation equipment. I'm glad to know you do. It can make the difference between life and death for critical cases.
Attendant:
Believe me. we're on to that.
Attendant:
We know we've got to resuscitate the patient. We only have five millutes or so to jolt their heart back to normal rhythm to fend off death or permanent brain damage caused by lack of oxygen. Half the patients we can save need no more than that.
Seymour:
There seems to be a problem at times with physicians. I've heard that they don't want to respond to an emergency call on board, especially in the United States. They're afraid they might be sued for malprctice or illegal exercise of medicine. Isn't there any way to assure in advance that that won't happen?
Attendant:
We can't deliver that kind of guarantee. As an airline, we don't have much clout in doctor-patient relations. We cross our fingers and hope that any doctor who responds won't end up in a lawsuit. After all, the patient should be grateful that help was at hand at all.
Araki:
Does the airline do anything to express appreciation to doctors who do volunteer?
Attendant:
Of course. We usually hand him or her a magnum bottle or champagne and a free, first-class, round-the-world ticket. We assume the patient will be bilIed for the treatment, although the doctors who are sweethearts don't do that. Many feel that it's their duty to help out charge-free.
Seymour:
Thanks for filling us in on all this. I feel a lot more comfortable flying with your airline.
Araki:
What happens if it's something you don't know how to treat?
Attendant:
We have a portable vital signs monitor about the size of a briefcase. lt trams- mits medical data from the patient through an onboard telephone to a doctor on the ground. He diagnoses the problem and feeds back advice on how to proceed.
Araki:
Do some passengers let you know in advance that they have a risky condition?
Attendant:
Oh, yes. We advise them that some drugs won't work well in an emergency because of the low humidity or pressure in airplane cabins, so it's best to have a doctor prescribe the right in- flight drugs to be carried on board.
Words and Phrases
vital signs monitor
transmit
diagnose
Vocabulary Building
●『from the look of it』様子(顔つき)から判断すると
From the look of it, we're in for a heavy snowfall this week.
その様子では、今週は大雪に見舞われるだろう。
●『have no complaints』特に不満はない
Jed has no complaints about his sudden transfer to Mexico City.
メキシコシティへの突然の転勤について、ジェドは特に不満はない。
●『five-star』超一流の、五つ星の
Only a few restaurants merit a five-star rating in this travel guide.
この旅行ガイドでは数件のレストランだけが五つ星の評価を得ている。