Airline really delivers, thanks to medical volunteers and MedLink

Five hours into a 10-hour commercial flight, a 20-year old passenger who was eight months pregnant unexpectedly went into labor. Two doctors and two nurses traveling onboard the flight voluntarily stepped forward to assist, with surprisingly little time to spare before delivery.

A healthy baby girl made her entrance into the world at 33,000 feet over Kazakhstan. Immediately after the successful delivery, a crewmember contacted doctors at MedAire Inc.’s 24/7 MedLink Global Response Center, based in the emergency department of a level one trauma center in Phoenix, Ariz. Although in-flight childbirth is very rare, MedLink has managed 12 labors out of 50,000 in-flight medical cases.

Managing Post-Delivery Procedures
Using knowledge from similar cases, the MedLink doctor collaborated with the medical volunteers and crew to provide:

• Guidance in managing post-delivery procedures
• Monitoring of the mother and baby’s medical condition that could prompt a need for an emergency landing
• Recommendations for use of appropriate medications in the aircraft medical kit

Meanwhile, communications specialists in the Global Response Center were standing by, ready to suggest diversion points along the route, in the event an emergency landing was required. They also consulted MedLink’s proprietary database to make arrangements for emergency medical transport to meet the mother and newborn upon arrival.
The Benefit of an Expert Telemedicine Provider
When an airline crewmember pages for a medical professional, that volunteer will inevitably be out of his or her “element”. Not only is an aircraft environment completely unique from a traditional healthcare facility, the volunteer must manage the medical situation as well as consider a plethora of decisions. What medications and supplies are available on the aircraft? How much training has the crew had, and how can they assist? What impact will altitude have on the patient? Is a medical diversion necessary?