Commercial in-flight medical emergencies

Revision as of 16:19, 30 August 2013 by Rossdonaldson1 (talk | contribs)

Background

  • 1 per 604 flights
  • 0.3% of cases died

Epidemiology

  • syncope or presyncope (37.4%)
  • respiratory symptoms (12.1%)
  • nausea or vomiting (9.5%)
  • Cardiac symptoms (7.7)
  • Seizures (5.8)
  • Abdominal pain (4.1)
  • Infectious disease (2.8)
  • Agitation or psychiatric symptoms (2.4)
  • Allergic reaction (2.2)
  • Possible stroke (2.0)
  • Trauma, not otherwise specified (1.8)
  • Diabetic complication (1.6)
  • Headache (1.0)
  • Arm or leg pain or injury (1.0)
  • Obstetrical or gynecologic symptoms(0.5)

Ear pain (0.4)

  • Cardiac arrest (0.3)
  • Laceration (0.3)

Source

  • Peterson DC, et al. "Outcomes of Medical Emergencies on Commercial Airline Flights" N Engl J Med 2013;368:2075-83. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1212052