Summary
- Delta Air Lines is upgrading its fleet with recent medical tools and technology to support the health and safety of passengers by the top of 2023.
- The airline has already added MedAire’s MedLink solution to its long-haul services, allowing crew members to liaise with on-ground doctors during in-flight medical emergencies.
- Over the subsequent several years, Delta Air Lines goals to implement telemedical services and distant electrocardiogram monitoring to permit for diagnosis from a distance.
After coming under fire in June for giving a passenger an empty oxygen bottle onboard, a flight from Minneapolis-Sant Paul International Airport (MSP) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Delta Air Lines is gearing as much as bolster its onboard medical technology to safeguard the continued health and well-being of its customers and crew members.
Keeping it healthy
As reported by Fox Business, the legacy carrier is ready to introduce a spread of upgrades to its aircraft over the subsequent several months, going and ensuring the whole lot of its 1,500-strong fleet offers up-to-date and expansive medical tools and technology. All crew members will undergo a rigorous six-week training program to coach them on emergency equipment, defibrillators, crisis management, and CPR.
In an announcement provided to the outlet, Delta Air Lines Chief Health Officer and cardiologist Dr. Henry Ting noted the carrier’s commitment to supporting and accommodating everyone onboard its services.
– Dr. Henry Ting.
Photo: Lukas Souza | Easy Flying
The carrier is reported to have already added MedAire’s MedLink solution to its aircraft, giving crew members a direct link to on-ground doctors when facing an inflight medical emergency 24/7 and streamlined access to rearrange emergency services prior to landing. The service is already utilized by at the least 70% of carriers operating inside the US, including charter airline VistaJet, Taiwanese STARLUX Airlines, and Canada’s WestJet.
Several other techy upgrades are also set to come back over the subsequent several years, starting from telemedical services and distant electrocardiogram monitoring, allowing doctors to observe heart conditions and diagnose from a distance. The carrier didn’t make clear a timeline.
– Dr. Henry Ting.
Limited options
While Delta Air Lines upgrades are a significant step forward for in-flight medicine, many airlines across North America – and the world – remain behind in providing support for passengers facing a medical emergency.
Photo: litabit / Shutterstock
Based on the Centers for Diseases and Control Prevention (CDC), around one in every 604 flights can have a medical emergency, starting from easy nausea and vomiting that requires limited acute treatment to diversions for major conditions corresponding to cardiac arrest.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all business aircraft to operate with an emergency medical kit, ensuring items like antihistamines, aspirin, syringes, and stethoscopes; nevertheless, despite the regulations, some airlines can remain lacking, with Fortune reporting that passengers facing an emergency have discovered missing items, or perhaps a failure to provide non-required, but vital medicines, corresponding to opiate reversal spray Naloxone. The FAA has since provided updated guidance for airlines to spice up their medical kits, though it has yet to be implemented industrywide.
What are your thoughts on Delta Air Lines’ health-based upgrades? What other airlines would you wish to see improve their onboard medical services? Tell us within the comments.