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Clinical InvestigationsPreflight Medical Screenings of Patients: Analysis of Health and Flight Characteristics
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
The medical screening policies and practices of commercial air carriers in the United States vary greatly. One major domestic carrier in the United States, Delta Air Lines, routinely refers passengers with known medical conditions, needs, or uncertain health status to a 24-h airline medical advisory service (Air Ambulance, Inc., San Carlos, Calif) for preflight screening and clearance. The advisory staff consists of registered nurses with experience in emergency department medicine, critical
Results
The medical advisory service evaluated 1,115 patients during the 12-month period, with 93 ± 13.3 (SD) screenings per month (Fig 1). These patients represented 0.003 percent of the 42,770,468 passengers flown on the carriers domestic flights during 1991 (S. Whitehead, oral communication, August, 1992). The advisory service also screened 784 patients referred from Delta in 1989 and 968 patients in 1990. Thus, the annual number of screened patients constituted a very low proportion of total
Discussion
The findings in this report indicate that large numbers of patients referred for preflight medical screening are receiving medication, have a wide range of medical diagnoses, and were recently discharged from an acute care hospital. The largest group consisted of patients requesting in-flight oxygen therapy. The oxygen group consisted primarily of elderly patients with COPD who used supplemental oxygen prior to flight. Many were “frequent fliers” who generally had not used in-flight oxygen
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful for the expertise of the following members of the Flight Advisory Staff, Air Ambulance, Inc., San Carlos, Calif; Dorothy Dennin, Susan Ferez, Karen Lemelin, Ann Haley, Connie Pickett, and Catherine Anderson. Stan Whitehead, Stations Analyst, Delta Air Lines, provided airline data.
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Manuscript received October 2; revision accepted December 16.