Travelling for leisure should be a fun and exciting time. It was with great anticipation that I started my vacation this week. Unfortunately for one of my fellow travelers, tragedy kept him from reaching his destination on time.
Shortly after boarding my Amsterdam bound flight from Detroit I heard an anxiety provoking announcement overhead “If there are any medical personnel on board please come to the rear of the aircraft.” This has happened a few times to me since graduating medical school but this time it was far more frightening. The airline attendant noticed an elderly gentleman slumped over in his seat and drooling vomitus on his sweater. He initially told her that he was fine but by the time I got to the back, he was unresponsive. The decision to leave a passenger in the case of a medical emergency is left to the medical person evaluating the situation. Clearly this man was in no shape to travel but was he in danger while we waited for the paramedics? While I tried to assess him the airline attendant franticly searched his bags for any information that might help. Other than his passport we found no identifying information. No emergency contact info, no address book, nothing. We found a pill case with 3 unopened blister packs of a powerful sedative-hypnotic but no other medications in the weekly pill box. If it wasn’t for the fact that the blister pack was unopened I wouldn’t have had any idea what those pills were. By the time the paramedics arrived I had determined that he was having a cardiac issue at minimum but that wasn’t enough to explain his loss of consciousness that responded only to painful stimuli. I suspected the sedative-hypnotic medication but had no way to confirm or deny if he’d taken any. Treating someone without any basic facts can be deadly if we guess wrong. I never did find out what happened because the paramedics whisked him away to the nearest hospital and I continued on in my travels.
I spent the rest of the flight wondering why (if so) he took such powerful sedatives at his age? Who would be waiting for him at his final destination and then frantic when he didn’t show? What medical conditions did he have that contributed to this event? I’m grateful that I was there to help but sad that he was alone and would wake up frightened and confused. So deciding to turn this event into a teaching point I offer these tips on travelling at any age or stage of life.
Make these lists and keep them with your travel documents:
1) Your name and contact info
2) Preferred language that you are likely to respond to
3) Medical diagnoses
4) Medications taken regularly or as needed, prescription and over the counter
a. Use generic names whenever possible as many medications go by different brand names in different countries
5) Allergies
6) Anything you are likely to take to help you deal with the effects of travel
7) Emergency contact info
8) Your itinerary and contact info of your greeting party at your destination