What Happens When Someone On Your Flight Has A Medical Emergency

If there’s a medical emergency on a flight, some planes will make an emergency landing so the passenger can get treatment. But on others, sick passengers are treated on board by flight attendants or medical personnel who happen to be on the same flight and volunteer to help.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson talks with Dr. Jose Victor Nable, a physician at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, about how in-flight medical emergencies are treated.

Interview Highlights

On how often there are medical emergencies on airplanes

“Unfortunately, there isn’t very much hard data on this, because there’s no centralized reporting system to which all airlines need to report these issues to. Pretty much every airline in the United States has to contract with a ground-based consultation service and that’s