Is there a doctor on board?
Most people who have flown long-distance flights have heard the call: ‘If there is a medical doctor on board, please identify yourself to a flight attendant.’ But, believe me, if you’re a doctor, your first instinct is to hide in the toilet. I know this sort of thing should be second nature to me, but I’m used to working in a hospital with a very audience. In Economy class, there can be 300 people watching, who are very interested in what’s going on. So, when I heard the call, somewhere over the mid-Atlantic, I tried to sink deeper into my seat, hiding my face behind my magazine. But, when nobody else responded, I pushed the call button.
There was a male passenger in First class with abdominal pain. He was 60 to 70 years old. I performed a brief examination and I concluded that the pain was probably a kidney stone. I gave the man some pain killers and said I’d check on him later.
I tried to sleep, but maybe an hour later the attendant approached me again. ‘There’s another patient for you.’ Oh dear! He was also an elderly man with a history of heart disease. I asked the attendant if there was a defibrillator on board. This second patient said he had typical chest pain with his heart attacks and his felt much more like stomach. Then he was sick an after that he felt a little better. I gave him some medicine for his stomach from the medical kit and then I checked on my first patient and he said he felt a lot better.
A couple of hours later, a flight attendant woke me from a deep sleep (this was overnight flight) to apologetically tell me that there was a third passenger in need of attention. This time it was an elderly lady who was having trouble breathing and the flight attendants had got an oxygen mask on her. Well, her lungs were clear and her pulse was normal and she seemed really panicky, and her travelling companion said she had been under a lot of stress and hated flying. So this was probably a panic attack. I told the flight attendant to keep her oxygen for another half an hour and told the patient in my most reassuring tone that she would be feeling better soon. I then checked on the kidney stone patient (sleeping) and the sick man (much better, thank you). I went back to the galley and had some coffee with the crew, then went back to the panicky lady, who was feeling much better.
The flight crew was very nice and gave me a free bottle of champagne as a gift. But when we landed I decided I would never again admit that I was a doctor on an aircraft flight!