Medical Briefcase For In-Flight Patient Evaluation

Makarand writes "On average one plane a day makes an unscheduled landing somewhere around the world when a passenger unexpectedly falls ill and requires medical attention. Diversion costs for an airline, related to fuel expenses and cost of putting people in hotels, can be anywhere between $50,000- $100,000 for each diversion. Now Airbus, in collaboration with the French Space agency, has come up with a solution in the form of a satellite-connected medical briefcase to determine if the patient needs urgent medical attention on the ground before making a diversion according to this BBC News article. A crew member with proper training can use the device to complete a medical examination of the patient in 2 minutes and download the data using satellite in real time to a hospital. A diversion is made if the emergency physician feels that the patient needs medical attention on the ground. Airbus believes that as planes get bigger, fuel efficient and fly longer hours with more number of people the chances of someone needing medical attention will increase creating a market for this device."

Comments

this is just a marketing brochure

[fermion]

This sounds more like a marketing brochure than news. While the technology of such a device might be interesting, there is no mention of the technology in the article or other links. Furthermore, such remote diagnosis is nothing new. The technology that has been in the field for many years. The fact that the device just happens to cost the same as the estimate minimum loss of a diversion is just, i am sure, a coincidence.

Also, the numbers quoted of 'one diversion per day' and the '50-100 thousand dollars' just doesn't sound significant. I am not sure how many flights are made a day, but I believe the airline revenue is in excess of 300 million dollars a day, which makes a diverted flight at most 0.03% of revenue. And what is the liability to the airline for misdiagnosis. I can't imagine that airlines are going to risk a lawsuit to keep a plane in the air. Anyone remember the guy who recently died because the train would not stop to let him go to a hospital?

It might be nice to keep these devices on planes just in case. But is not like a defibrillator that might actually save a persons life.

Addressing some points that have been made....

[Anonymous Coward]

Lets address much of what has been said point by point. Before I get flamed, my qualifications are: eleven years in the flight operations department (ever get your flight cancelled? -- that was me). Also married to a flight attendant (she of twelve years experience, and yes, a hottie :)

I have specifed the comment ID so you can see more context if required.

# 4971908
Where they currently don't have much available beyond traditional CPR now, they will be able to dispense drugs that the physician "prescribes" after doing the remote examination.

FACT- Airliners now have `physicians medical kits` that contain prescription only drugs. It is sealed and only allowed to be used when under the supervision of an MD.

# 4972049
It might be nice to keep these devices on planes just in case. But is not like a defibrillator that might actually save a persons life.

FACT- Airliners now are acquiring auto-defibrillators that are user-friendly and that the cabin crew is trained to use. These units only will provide a shock if their sensors detect a correctable anomaly.

# 4971949
Don't airliners have radios? Why not just have the nearest tower relay the info to an emergency room on the ground? EMTs have specific protocols for this kind of "on-line" medical direction.

FACT- Yes, aircraft have radios. The frequencies are mightily congested, meaning that if one flight monopolizes the airwaves, other important communications get put on hold. When a plane is declaring a mechanical emergency, it makes sense to give way. But as noted, this type of event happens often , meaning that there would be too much communications disruption systemwide.

Also, asking the tower/approach/center to proxy the messages to a hospital adds the chance for miscommunication. Further, ATC would now be 'in the loop' and would have to have plans and protocols for what to do when the crew asks for help. (Some of this may be in place now, but not to the level that you suggest). A sat-link takes all this mess away and gets the real data into the hands of someone who can interpret it.

# 4972002
Step 5: Evidence suggests that passenger is dead. Tell pilot to land plane immediately

FACT- Uh, he's dead, Jim. Why in hell would you land now? As a flight chief, I say press on. Only land if other passengers are starting to freak out. Whimpy management might over-ride this call, but its the one I make.

# 4971986
This means if it coast $80,000 for one of these diversions and there's one a day, then for these 10,000 flights it cost 8 bucks a flight. This is hardly a major expense for the airlines; we're talking pocket change here.

FACT- I think this $80K figure is grossly low. (Then again, so is your total worldwide flight count.)

The downline effects of a single flight diversion can ruin an aircraft's schedule for an entire day, and the crew being out of place can affect other lines of flight. That totals possibly thousands of aggregate passengers who are now upset. Due to the cause of the diversion, the airline might choose to hold or reroute planes that were scheduled to carry the pax onboard the diverted flight, snowballing the damage to the schedule. Moreover, airlines are bleeding at the wallet currently. They can ill afford to alienate the remaining passengers who are continuing to fly.

Also, emergency diversions such as this are often into provisional or other non-standard airports. This can create huge logistic or engineering headaches when it comes time to leave (i.e., fuel availability, runway length, local firefighting staff, etc etc.)

Further, there may be unknown accounting benefits w.r.t these units. When a flight diverts the losses are just operational losses. These boxes likely can be acquired as a capital expense, thus subject to many accounting and financing advantages.

Finally, there are no `co-pilots` (a non-word perpetuated by the ignorant press). There are only pilots. Some are Captains, and some are First Officers, but they can all fly the aircraft without oversight or assistance.

Posted AC due to insider information.