Airplanes: Medically Underequipped

To the Editor: Each year 300 million passengers travel on American aircraft. According to figures from the Air Transport Association,¹ approximately 100 of these passengers die while aboard, and many more become ill. Since qualified medical personnel are on board on a large number of long-distance nights,² help should be close at hand. But, if a physician answers the call for help, he or she will find that the plane carries no lifesaving medical equipment and no medications — not even a stethoscope. When asked to treat a serious illness, the physician will be provided with a first-aid kit containing. . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.