Approaches to Medical Emergencies on Commercial Flights.

In-flight medical incidents are becoming increasingly critical as passengers with diverse health profiles increase in the skies. In this paper, we reviewed how airlines, aviation authorities, and healthcare professionals respond to such emergencies. The analysis was focused on the strategies developed by the top ten airlines in the world by examining training in basic first aid, collaboration with ground-based medical support, and use of onboard medical equipment. Appropriate training of crew members, availability of adequate medical resources on board airplanes, and improved capabilities of dialogue between a flying plane and medical doctors on the ground will contribute to a positive outcome of the majority of medical issues on board airlines. In this respect, the adoption of advanced telemedicine solutions and the improvement of real-time teleconsultations between aircraft and ground-based professionals can represent the future of aviation medicine, offering more safety and peace of mind to passengers in case of medical problems during a flight.

Design and evolution of the Seafarer's Health Passport for supporting (tele)-medical assistance to seafarers.

BACKGROUND: Seafarers undergo periodic medical examination for their employment. This information inmost cases is not effectively used when requesting for medical assistance during service on board ships.The medical history of an individual is important for provision of medical care and can be critical to theoutcome. There is growing adoption of digital applications and electronic health records that are addinggreat value to the care provided. The Seafarer's Health Passport (SHP) is an application specifically designedfor improving the quality of medical assistance provided to seafarers both through telemedicineor classic medical check-ups in ports/hospitals worldwide. The SHP provides a secure and unique way toarchive and retrieve the seafarer's medical history in an electronic support. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The SHP that we have developed is a product with specific hardware and softwarespecifications. The basic features of this software are Linux operating system Debian/Ubuntu, ApacheWeb server 2.x, Server database MySQL/Maria DB PHP programming language 5.6.xx, and secure connectionin https. RESULTS: The SHP represents a helpful hint to physicians providing medical advices to seafarers enablingthem to make more decisions that are informed and curtailing possible complications due to misdiagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Provision of high quality medical assistance requires knowledge of patient's medical history.The availability of an easy access and friendly use system of own medical history is useful for a populationof travellers, such as seafarers to guarantee a reasonable level of medical care at any time.