How Much Information?
On my return flight from Israel last week, we had a "medical emergency." I don't know what it was, but the woman was lying down behind some coach seats with an IV. But, let me rewind the story to the beginning.
We board the plane. We sit down and wait to taxi away. We're late. (It's ok, I have yet to be on an international flight that leaves on time. We finally leave, and I fall asleep. (It's about midnight Israel time.)
I wake up when there's a commotion a few seats in front of me. These two passengers are complaining about dinner. It's late. By almost two hours. I think this is great--I've slept already, so I'll eat (again) and sleep again. The flight attendants are trying to placate these people, but they keep complaining. But then I see an attendant running with a an IV bag and one of the flight medical kits up to the next section.
I know this isn't good. I figure the worst thing that happens is the person dies. We'll definitely be landing then, and it won't be Newark. The next worse thing is we land somewhere and this person is taken to a hospital. The best thing is this person stabilizes, we get dinner late, and still land in Newark.
Well, everything on the plane was late. Dinner, breakfast, handing out the immigration and custom cards, everything. But, to my surprise, the powers that be allowed all of us passengers off the plane while they waited for the paramedics.
I still have no idea what was wrong with the person. But it wasn't until the end of the flight, when the flight attendants were clearly harried and frustrated that the purser made any announcement of a medical emergency.
I see a conflict between the sick person's right to privacy and the other 300 or so people's right to know something about the status of the flight. I suspect there is a policy around this for airlines.
I wish their policy had more open communications. I wish there was a way I could have passed on my best wishes for a speedy recovery. I don't know the answer, but how much information should other passengers have?
We board the plane. We sit down and wait to taxi away. We're late. (It's ok, I have yet to be on an international flight that leaves on time. We finally leave, and I fall asleep. (It's about midnight Israel time.)
I wake up when there's a commotion a few seats in front of me. These two passengers are complaining about dinner. It's late. By almost two hours. I think this is great--I've slept already, so I'll eat (again) and sleep again. The flight attendants are trying to placate these people, but they keep complaining. But then I see an attendant running with a an IV bag and one of the flight medical kits up to the next section.
I know this isn't good. I figure the worst thing that happens is the person dies. We'll definitely be landing then, and it won't be Newark. The next worse thing is we land somewhere and this person is taken to a hospital. The best thing is this person stabilizes, we get dinner late, and still land in Newark.
Well, everything on the plane was late. Dinner, breakfast, handing out the immigration and custom cards, everything. But, to my surprise, the powers that be allowed all of us passengers off the plane while they waited for the paramedics.
I still have no idea what was wrong with the person. But it wasn't until the end of the flight, when the flight attendants were clearly harried and frustrated that the purser made any announcement of a medical emergency.
I see a conflict between the sick person's right to privacy and the other 300 or so people's right to know something about the status of the flight. I suspect there is a policy around this for airlines.
I wish their policy had more open communications. I wish there was a way I could have passed on my best wishes for a speedy recovery. I don't know the answer, but how much information should other passengers have?
