In my workplace it's a running joke that we would rather have the first responders (me and others in my department) come and help us than the "Dr." because we have a more generalized training than specialists who don't do trauma or emergency work all that often. I was on a flight back in 2011 and they called for medical help. I volunteered and started doing my proper procedures when they brought a neurologist back to take over. I realized she had no idea what she was doing when she use the BP cuff wrong and couldn't check the pulse correctly.
Now I'm not saying she wasn't qualified but when you don't have "hands on" for a certain period of time you lose the skills. I have to take my full courses over again every two years in order to stay certified.
See, and I've had the exact opposite experience.
I came very close to passing out at a local fast food joint.
A friend called 911. Ambulance came. Yes, they could get my blood pressure, temp and even my blood sugar.
But they knew nothing about my medications. Or medical conditions.
"Why do you take this(medication)?" "Well, as I've said, I've had a hysterectomy, and that is a hormone." "So, you need to take this?" "Um, yes, my doctor gave it to me." To say nothing of the fact that I've been taking it for a year and half. And even if there is some rare side effect, don't you think the doctor should be the one to question or change my medications?
And then, "Oh, you have celiac. Maybe that is it"
At that point, I wanted so say, "Oh my God, please just get me to someone that has a clue."
But no, they had to have a discussion about what I took. Um, guys, I've been on these for months; some for years, you aren't going to come to some quick conclusion in the next 5 minutes. Maybe instead you could get me to an actual doctor.
These are good examples of people acting within, or out of, their specialities.
In the first example, sure, I'm sort of not surprised a neurologist might not know how to use a blood pressure cuff - for a few reasons. She might not use one regularly in her practice, maybe the medical assistants generally obtain vital signs, or it might be different than the one used on the flight, or digital, etc. (One of the doctors in one the articles mentioned she'd wished there were digital BP cuffs on the plane because it was difficult to hear sounds given the airplane noise and a thready pulse, etc. but apparently they use the old style ones, maybe it's changed since they supposedly revamped FAA required supplies around 2013, idk. But you get the idea.) Don't you agree, though, that the neurologist would be super helpful to have around if the "customer" was suffering from dizziness, or having a seizure, etc?
I think that's what we've sort of been saying, that in an inflight emergency, information is typically solicited to see who the
most qualified responders are. Does it happen every single time? Probably not, but we never see or hear every detail about the actual situation; we only hear bits and pieces from others' perspectives and memories of the events later on...
To the second example, sure, I can understand why those questions would seem annoying and why you'd want to be seen by a doctor asap, but I think that EMTs/paramedics are usually very good at what they do and an important part of the health care team in emergencies outside of the hospital. The information they solicit can help guide quick treatment once a patient gets to the hospital (though, of course, it has to be verified). I think that in an inflight emergency, it would be very helpful to have one of them there, space considerations notwithstanding. Again, in one of the articles written by a physician, the doctor tried several times to insert an IV and was unable to; was wishing there was a nurse there as nurses usually do that where he or she works, etc. And in the plane kit I believer there are only two IV catheter needles, IIR. That's not much if you're unsuccessful on two tries. (And IIR in the example the customer was morbidly obese with an extremely low BP, and likely dehydrated, which makes him a very difficult stick.) That doctor then had to direct preparation of an oral solution with sugar and water that a family member had to have the barely-conscious customer sip every five minutes to equal what an IV solution might be. That was a very good recommendation by the physician, I thought, although I wouldn't want to be the "patient" in that situation who was probably not feeling well and being made to continuously drink what was most likely an unappetizing drink throughout the flight.
An IV most certainly would've been preferable.
The "team approach" works great in a hospital, but on an airplane, unfortunately, it's not always possible to have that many people around given that space is so tight. That's why, I guess, they primarily stick with one or two people, and use ground medical advice in situations that require more. I would think, that if it was a complex situation, that you would want an MD, if possible, who, while may not be experienced in certain things, surely has advanced medical knowledge. In the case in question, there were
three MDs to choose from. Why they chose a certain one may have been based on race, gender, appearance, etc., OR it may have been based on specialty or ability to produce "credentials" in the moment, etc. We really don't know. I do think that the FA should NOT have called ANYONE "Sweetie" because it's condescending, and perhaps started things off on a bad note, but again, things can get tense in a life threatening emergency (which I'd guess it was if they solicited help) and a lot of that may be coloring what the public has heard about the situation. I was taught to always refer to people by their names, and never as "honey" or "sweetie" and I don't, nor do I like it when people call me that, either. I would've been annoyed, too.
But, fortunately, I'd wrapped it very well, so we fished it out again. He tacked it on with neat little stitches, bandaged my boy up, and sent us home with an appointment to see the senior plastic surgeon.
