With one in 604 airline flights experiencing a medical emergency — or around 144 emergencies per day, according to a 2020 study — it’s critical that crews are equipped to provide quick, quality care.
To help ensure the safety of passengers in distress, Delta Air Lines is rolling out upgrades to its onboard medical tools and technology, with a goal of having them installed on its entire fleet of 1,500 planes by the end of 2023.
«Our primary goals are to protect the health and safety of our crew and our passengers in flight when they have a medical emergency,» said Dr. Henry Ting, the Atlanta-based chief health officer for Delta Air Lines.
«We felt that there were opportunities to improve and add processes, equipment and technology onboard.»
While medical events are relatively rare, they are still the most frequently encountered non-routine event during Delta’s flights, according to the company.
For every calendar year, the airline sees about 4,000 in-flight medical events, which equates to approximately 25 per 10,000 flights.
Ting, who is also a cardiologist, spoke to FOX Business about the company’s plans to enhance its capabilities to handle in-flight medical emergencies.
The first enhancement was to add MedLink. This technology gives flight attendants quick and direct access to doctors on the ground through an app on their company mobile devices.
MedLink is provided by MedAire, an Arizona-based medical technology company that will function as Delta’s new «24/7 partner for medical expertise,» Ting said.
«Using the synchronous digital technology, our crews will have the ability to use an app to text back and forth, or get on the phone to speak to the medical provider on the ground,» he said.
«We believe that gathering data from wearables and technology is the future of in-flight medical care, because it can be transmitted via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi directly to the provider,» Ting went on.
«So we can get measurements beyond blood pressure, heart rate and temperature»…
