Doc on board?

Alarmed at frequent deaths on aircraft, DGCA asks large airlines to carry an advanced physician's kit. But the kits can only be opened if there is a doctor among the passengers

On April 21, Anil and Shilpa Rawat and their newborn girl Charu had just taken a Mumbai-Bangalore flight, when Shilpa noticed the baby's breathing had stopped. The baby could not be saved.

This was the latest in a long line of deaths on flights in the recent past. Alarmed that an average of five passenger deaths are reported every six months, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked all large airlines, carrying over 200 passengers, to include an advanced physician's kit, with several life-saving drugs and medical equipment, along with the regular first aid box.

The kit, however, is unlikely to be of use during all emergencies. The advanced physician's kit can be used only by a registered medical practitioner, from among the passengers onboard. The airline is only obligated to ensure that the cabin crew is adequately trained in the use of the First Aid Kit.u00a0u00a0u00a0

But the DGCA is leaving no stone unturned with respect to the equipment on board. R P Sahi, joint director general, DGCA, has directed airlines to include oxygen catheters in the kit, as breathing failure has emerged as the most common cause of infant deaths on aircraft.

All airlines carrying more than 30 passengers, including crew, have also been instructed to carry one Automated External Defibrillators (a portable electronic device that can treat life threatening cardiac problems) on commercial flights.u00a0

DEATHS
March 17, 2009: A 22-year-old passenger P Kannabiran was found dead when his flight landed at Chennai airport.

June 17, 2008: NRI couple Mohan Krishnamoorthy and Sujata Mohan lost their infant son Aditya on a Toronto-Delhi-Bangalore flight.
Krishnamurthy, who is fighting a legal battle with the airline, said, "During the landing, the airline staff advised my wife to feed the baby to ease the air pressure in his ears. But while feeding, the baby stopped suckling and went still."

December 21, 2006: Forty-eight-year-old Rex Joseph DCruz died at Mumbai airport before taking an Air India flight to Chennai

November 20, 2006: American passenger George Neumann (64) suffered a cardiac arrest minutes after arriving on a 15-hour, non-stop New York-Mumbai Delta Airlines flight. He later died.
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November 3, 2006: R Sharma, who boarded an Air-India flight from Durban, was ill and on a stretcher. He suffered a cardiac arrest mid-air.
The same day, Panna Marfatia, a diabetic, was on a British Airways flight from London to Mumbai when she suffered a cardiac arrest, leading to her death.
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November 1, 2006: Qutbuddin Banglawala (68) suffered a heart attack at the Mumbai airport. He was travelling alone in a Virgin Atlantic flight from London.