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Showing posts from October, 2018

When my pizza craving kind of saved a life!

Hey people, No heroic act done. A coincidence where pizza is in the picture. One fine evening at the airport, I had this pizza craving. I could neither study or sleep . So I thought I'll stuff some pizza and that can help me nap. I strolled up to the food court. I was randomly screening menu of a restaurant I had never visited . In the field of vision came  48 year old unresponsive patient. He was sweating. His family was around him. They had spilled water on his face. I walked up to him spoke to him to check his orientation ( GCS) . When I was assured his GCS was fine . I asked for history. I got to know that he was diabetic , had similar episodes in the past. Meanwhile his daughter rushed to get some sugar solution . While he consumed it , I tried contacting my emergency room. And toodles! My network was not working. To buy time I ran around to see wheelchairs near the food court but unfortunately there was none. The staff was hardly of any help. I rushed back to assess the ...

Assessing fitness to fly : for healthcare professionals

Every year, over one billion people travel by air and that figure is predicted to double in the next two decades. Health professionals may increasingly be asked to assess a patient’s fitness to fly. So , it's better you know it before you land in an awkward position. Most patients will be able to fly safely, but some may require additional measures such as in-flight supplementary oxygen. Where necessary, even passengers who require specialist in-flight medical care up to intensive care level can usually be transported by air ambulance, although the cost of this can be prohibitive unless covered by the patient’s  medical insurance . It is important to note that although Cabin Crew are trained to render advanced first aid, they are not trained to administer medication. In addition, most airlines will assist passengers to reach the toilet accommodation on the aircraft but cannot render more personal hygiene or nursing care. The majority of in-flight emergencies occur in situation...

Fitness to fly : Medical issues when you won't be allowed to travel.

Hello people. This is an informative post. Not everybody is aware of this(  doctors included ). As a medical officer, I feel bad when I give "unfit to travel " certificate, because a lot of money , emotions, commitments are at stake . So , make sure you know it. Let your loved ones who are about to travel know it too. Most of them is been copy pasted from the website. I'll add my experiences in the next blog. Because I don't want to be meddling with serious stuff with my not so serious experiences. Also I'll be posting a different post for healthcare professionals stay tuned! What is medical clearance? You may be asked for proof of your “fitness to fly” when requesting assistance. If you have a stable condition, there is generally no need to be cleared for travel. There are usually two parts to the medical clearance process: You will be asked to provide information about your situation or condition and, for many passengers, this will be all you ...

Jet lag : all about it!

Hey Again a copy paste post... Found it informative, so sharing it. The most important factor in setting our body clock is the cycle of light and darkness. However, our body clock does not cope well with rapid and large changes in the timing of environmental signals like light, which is what happens when we fly quickly across world time zones. 'Jet-lag' is the term used for the symptoms you may feel while your body clock adjusts to time in the new location. Symptoms of jet-lag include feeling tired during the day in the new time zone, and yet experiencing disturbed sleep at night, feeling less able to concentrate or to motivate yourself, decreased mental and physical performance, increased incidence of headaches and irritability, loss of appetite and gastro-intestinal problems such as constipation. Jet lag vs Travel fatigue : Any journey, particularly if more than 3 hours, can cause discomfort and tiredness whether you are travelling by car, bus, train or aeroplane. You m...

The aircraft cabin and your health

Hey all  Copy paste post alert! This post is a continuation of my previous post on fitness to travel. Most of the people are aware about this. This may help first timers though. Here are common issues . Dry eyes , Dry skin : The symptoms often described after flying, e.g. dry eyes, taut skin, dry mouth etc. are due to the dry atmosphere on board the aircraft. The relative humidity in most air conditioned buildings is between 40 and 70 per cent which is ideal for comfort. On an aircraft, the relative humidity may be of the order of 20 per cent. This however does not cause true dehydration but these symptoms may be exacerbated by drinking excessive amounts of tea, coffee and alcohol which cause the body to pass more urine. Simple measures such as applying moisturiser and drinking water should alleviate the symptoms. There is no hazard to health as a result of this environment. Contact lens wearers may have to dampen their lenses and should remove them prior to sleeping ...

Emergency aircraft landing: Why Emergency Physicians are irreplaceable!

Hey all! Life's been way too exciting. Almighty has been kindest this year!  I could not find time to post. Now is the time. This is a real incident that happened during my airport posting. We got a call stating there was a cardiac arrest in this  flight and emergency landing in 8 minutes. I was a little nervous. Somebody who has intubated handful number of times in a fully equipped atmosphere . I may have to do crash intubation if required there itself not in the aircraft though but in ambulance may be . Even basic CPR would be difficult in a compact space like an aircraft. I check all drugs , equipment and everything. We literally run to the ambulance . The plane landed in about 3 minutes . We rushed into the plane. I see a middle aged man moving his limbs and the other giving compressions. I was like he is moving why are you giving compressions? I didn't know he was a doctor. Flashback: The basic background was a 50 year old Male post neurosurgery for meningi...