HOW TO COMMUNICATE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY

The man was going to the back bathroom of the plane, it was occupied , so he waited patiently in the aisle.

His face turned pale, then bluish in a matter of seconds, he staggered a little and collapsed in the middle of the aisle.

We were at 39,000 feet and moving over the middle of Taiwan at 870 km/h.

The auxiliary crew’s procedure was IMMEDIATE (it’s incredible how quickly things come back to your memory if the initial training was good and strict), one is in charge of first aid, another looks for medical kit, another prepares to look for a doctor and one of them communicates with cockpit.

Let’s talk about this last step.

Communication in these cases is generally in English, and we almost never see each other’s faces, so when I (the pilot) answer the call I need the crew member who requires me to:

1.-Be Calm. It is key to master the initial nerves, there are already prepared people doing their job and this crew member’s job is to communicate well and for that calm is the main ingredient.

2.- Who you are calling, sometimes the intercoms are full of numbers and if you press the wrong button you will give the message to the wrong person.

3.- Who you are, that way I can identify you as a crew member of the plane (remember that we introduce ourselves before the flight).

4.- Where you are (from what position you are calling me) so that I locate the place of the problem

5.- What is the issue (note that what happens is in point 5) because the rest are small filters to ensure effective and correct communication.
6.- What are your intentions?

Let’s go with an example:

The cockpit chime sounds and the word CALL lights up in blue. I press the cabin intercom and answer:

• “Cabin”
• “Captain” (1 and 2) because the voice sounds calm.
• “Yes, go ahead.”
• “This is Son Yoon, calling from the R2 intercom”. (3 and 4)
• “We have a passenger who’s just passed out, so we are giving him first aid, looking for the first aid kit and asking for a doctor on board.”(5)
• “As soon as I have more information, I will let you know” (6).
• “Thank you Miss Yoon, keep me informed.” This allows me as flight commander to do the following things:
• Inform the co-pilot of the situation (now the entire crew knows what is happening and can cooperate).
• Find an airport that meets the regulatory and meteorological minimum in route to be able to divert as soon as possible if necessary. We call them in route alternates.
• Being able to notify air traffic control if we have to divert so that they give us medical priority.
• Make a medical call (some airlines have this service via satellite where doctors on the ground advise us on the problem in case of not finding a doctor on board). And that’s how we normally solve the most common current problems on planes, the medical emergency.
• In summary:
• Calm
• Who are you calling
• Who are you
  Where are you
• What’s happening
• What intentions do you have?

Hopefully you won’t need it, but having it in your head is a big help.

Until then, may you find peaceful skies.

Enrique. Team Qrewmentor.