What happens if someone has a heart attack on a plane

It depends on how likely you are to have another heart attack. Check with your GP or heart specialist before you fly after a heart attack. The information below is a guide only. The British Cardiovascular Society recommends that people who have very low risk of having another heart attack may be able to fly as early as 3 days after having one.

You are considered to be at very low risk if:. The UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends that people with no complications, who are at low risk of another event, can fly 7 to 10 days after a heart attack. However, during the flight, legs and ankles tend to swell and breathing may become more difficult for people with severe heart failure. Again, check with your GP or heart specialist before planning any air travel. If you are older than 65 or you've had another heart attack in the past, you're more likely to have one again.

If you have no symptoms or other heart conditions and no further treatment is planned, you're considered to be at medium risk. In this case, the Civil Aviation Authority recommends that you may fly from 10 days after your recent heart attack. There are specific laws that apply to AEDs in airports as well as during flights. Federal law applies to AEDs being in airports and how many should be there, which is every hundred yards or so. There are also federal laws passed in the s that require AEDs be available on all domestic flights.

If someone has a heart attack while they are in an airport or in-flight, there should be an AED nearby. All domestic flights in the United States are required to have an AED on the plane, and most flight attendants are trained to use them. In an airport, they are usually every certain number of feet or yards. It is a difficult question to talk about the jurisdiction of a Good Samaritan law that applies in a state versus at an airport or during a flight because different laws may apply.

For example, if someone has a heart attack at the airport, federal law applies which is different than the Good Samaritan Immunity law. It's likely that his heart went into an irregular rhythm because of a condition called cardiogenic shock, and then he went back into cardiac arrest, Monks said. The doctor and the others resumed CPR until the man showed signs of life. Under Monks' direction, the pharmacist, who had worked in an intensive care unit, administered epinephrine also known as adrenaline from the plane's medical kit intravenously, adjusting the dosage as needed.

Meanwhile, the plane was diverted to the nearest major city, in China. When the flight landed, the man was taken to a nearby hospital and given anti-clotting drugs. He later made a full recovery and suffered no brain damage, Monks said.

In fact, medical emergencies on airplanes are fairly common, occurring on about 1 in every flights, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. But in only 7 percent of cases does the aircraft have to divert its route, the study found.

The most common medical complaints on flights are feelings of lightheadedness or passing out known as syncope , followed by respiratory problems, nausea and vomiting, according to the study. About 1, passengers per year experience sudden cardiac death on commercial flights, according to a study published in the Singapore Medical Journal. More people die of heart problems on flights than in airplane crashes, Monks and his colleagues said.