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Previous Volume 346:1067-1073 April 4, 2002 Number 14 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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The provision of medical assistance to passengers during flights aboard commercial aircraft is a matter of concern to most physicians.^1,2,3,4 Although close to 2 billion people travel on commercial airlines each year, there has been little study of medical issues related to air travel.¹ As the number of air travelers increases and as the population ages, the number of medical events aboard commercial aircraft will increase. In this article, we review the environmental, clinical, and legal aspects of in-flight medical care aboard commercial aircraft.

Epidemiologic Features

Incidence and Types of Events

Determining the incidence of in-flight medical events aboard commercial aircraft is difficult, because there are currently . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Physicians' Participation

Diversions

Environmental and Physiological Factors

Cabin Pressure

Cabin Air Quality

Violence aboard Aircraft

Medical Fitness for Air Travel

General Principles

Oxygen Therapy

Medical Liability

Medical Resources Aboard Commercial Aircraft

Emergency Medical Kit

Automated External Defibrillators

Ground-Based Medical Assistance

General Approach to In-Flight Medical Events

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Lahey Clinic, Burlington, Mass. (M.A.G.); and the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Federal Aviation Administration, Oklahoma City (C.D.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Gendreau at the Department of Emergency Medicine, Lahey Clinic, 41 Mall Rd., Burlington, MA 01805, or at mgndru@massmed.org.

References

Related Letters:

Medical Events during Airline Flights
Noel A. A., Roth W. T., Baevsky R., Rivas H., Schuff-Werner P., Kohlschein P., Steiner M., Ross S. C., Gendreau M., DeJohn C.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2002; 347:535-537, Aug 15, 2002. Correspondence

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