Hilton wrote:
Hi,

I have a question from a friend. Her daughters have nut allergies. She
wants to know how long it takes from cruise (41K?) to a gate from the time
they notify the crew of a medical emergency (e.g. anaphylactic shock).
Obviously it depends on their proximity to a suitable airport, but I'd like
to hear from the airline pilots in this group. She is specifically
referring to a flight from the SF Bay Area to the NY area.

She does have some medication/injection to give them, but obviously she
would want real medical treatment ASAP.

As a pilot, what kind of descent rates can a 737/A320/747 etc get in a
medical mergency? Would this descent rate be different than a descent for
decompression?

Thanks,

Hilton



The nearest APPROPRIATE landing site may not be the closest (which you
have acknowledged). You may take up to 15 - 30 minutes to get to the
gate in such a situation. If someone is going to die in 5 minutes, then
it doesnt really matter if its 15 minutes or 50 to get to the gate.

They are not going to do a dive/emergency descent for a medical
emergency (in the manner that they would for a cabin
breach/decompression. Those rapid descents are just to get below 10,000
feet then you stablize the flight path and form a plan (the emergency is
mostly over, from a pressurization standpoint then). An overly abrupt
descent can also interfere with providing care to the ill passenger.

If she is a severe anaphalactic, the appropriate course of action is to
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have her epi-pen with her, and not be hesitant
about using it if a true anaphylactic event takes place. Have TWO, in
case something happens to the first one. And thats for each potential
patient.

That IS the treatment. Thats the same drug paramedics or ER staff would
administer. There are other nice things, like benadryl, pepcid and
steroids, but for the real deal, Epinepherine/Adrenaline is the 1st line
priority treatment for anaphylaxis. After Epi.. its mostly a matter of
observing the patient...

Dave