Have you ever responded to "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?"
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General clinical
Have you ever responded to "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?"
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Just wondering if anyone has responded to those famous words: "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?" What was the situation and how did you respond? Did you feel any reluctance to respond? Was
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Have you ever responded to "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?"
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Re: Have you ever responded to "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?"
posted at 10/2/2012 3:23 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 1
First: 10/2/2012 Last: 10/2/2012 |
On a trip Singapore/London, the call for a doctor went out. When it was the 4th time, I did admit my professional status stating I was a psychiatrist not a general physician or GP. A middle aged Nigerian woman had become very disturbed, distressing her neighbours, throwing things etc. I spoke to her in an authoritarian way and tried to take a brief history and she settled. Her neighbours had been moved to other parts of the plan. Her pupils were constricted but no other significant signs. Airline staff wanted me to sedate her, but as I was uncertain what she could have taken I refused. Sat next to her for the rest of the journey, and she remained quiet. She was a transit passenger and a note was given for her next pilot. As I got off, other passengers came up to thank me for intervening. Some weeks later, I received from the airline a man's wallet, very well crafted, but I am female! Don't airlines know that doctors can sometimes be female??? |
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Re: Have you ever responded to "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?"
posted at 10/2/2012 11:23 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 683
First: 19/4/2010 Last: 17/5/2012 |
On a flight to the US the call went out for a doctor to assist with a passenger in first class. I offered my services, then the stewardess asked me what speciality I practice. When I replied that I'm a Chest physician, they declined my offer. "We need an anaesthetist", she said. Why specifically an anaesthetist? "Well, there's a surgeon in first class who needs his reading light adjusted..." Wakka wakka wakka. I *was* on a flight to the US when a call went out, and I offered my services. A lady in business class was semi-conscious, and the stewardesses felt she had had a stroke. Her sister told me that she'd had a couple of herbal sleeping tablets, and two brandies, then become less responsive. "Can I see these herbal sleeping tablets, then?"...... Zopiclone. I diagnosed "Asleep", and gave a prognosis of spontaneous recovery in 8 hours. When she woke up, she bought me a bottle of champagne. True story.
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Re: Have you ever responded to "is there a doctor in the house/on the plane?"
posted at 11/2/2012 6:24 PM GMT
on bmj.com
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Posts: 148
First: 29/4/2011 Last: 18/5/2012 |
Of several such experiences the most interesting one was neither an auto accident nor on a plane. Rather it was on a train. We were on vacation traveling in the southwest to visit the Grand Canion. As we were traveling through the high dessert (about 7,000 feet), there was a call for a doctor. My mother-in-law who is a nurse and I responded. We found a man in respiratory distress and an hysterical wife. There was essentially no medical equipment or medications. The history was that he had just been discharged from the hospital for an episode of pneumonia on top of COPD. He had been told that he shouldn't fly, so they took the train being completely unaware that the high dessert was equivalent to an airplane's cabin pressure of about 1/2 atmosphere. I literally put my ear to his chest and heard wheezing. I instructed the train to get an ambulance to wait at the nearest stop and get this guy to sea level. While my mother-in-law tried as best she could to calm his wife down, I held the patient's hand and tried to get his breathing rate down, while praying that he did not go into cardiac arrest. It was one of the longest 20 minutes of my career. He was taken off the train and I was later told that he made it to the hospital at sea level. I believe that I got a free drink for my efforts. |
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