Additional information was derived from manual review of references cited in relevant journal articles, reports, and textbooks, and from communication with experts in aerospace and emergency medicine. Neurological, syncopal, cardiac, psychiatric, and respiratory episodes are the most frequent categories of inflight medical problems.
Myocardial disease is the most frequent cause of inflight death.
To manage inflight emergencies, flight crews rely on their own training, the availability of passenger volunteers, communication with medical personnel on the ground, and the contents of onboard emergency medical kits and first aid kits. Variation exists among airlines in the contents and sophistication of inflight medical kits and in flight crew training requirements. Little data are available regarding the effectiveness of such improvements in improving health or survival outcomes. Federal legislation was signed in 1998 requiring the Federal Aviation Administration to assess the extent of inflight medical emergencies, the adequacy of inflight emergency medical kits, and the need for AEDs on commercial aircraft. Physicians have an important role in the preflight evaluation and counseling of patients who are at risk of inflight medical complications.