Correspondence

Emergency Kits On Airplanes

N Engl J Med 1994; 330:439February 10, 1994

Article

To the Editor:

While I was a passenger on a recent transatlantic flight, an elderly woman became ill and required assistance. Six or seven physicians responded promptly to the flight crew's request for help. The emergency medical kit offered by the crew contained sufficient supplies to establish intravenous access, administer basic cardiac pharmacologic agents, and establish an airway. I was astonished to discover, however, that it did not include a single pair of gloves.

The contents of first-aid kits and emergency medical kits, as well as the number of kits per flight, are mandated for American air carriers by the Federal Aviation Administration (Table 1Table 1Contents of Aircraft First-Aid and Emergency Kits Mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration.)1. This equipment allows one to perform a limited range of invasive procedures, but exposure to blood or other body fluids to which universal precautions apply is quite likely. The present guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that “Disposable gloves should be a standard component of emergency response equipment, and should be donned by all personnel prior to initiating any emergency patient care tasks involving exposure to blood or other body fluids to which universal precautions apply”2.

Amy L. Friedman, M.D.
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104

2 References

1. 1

   Code of federal regulations (CFR) 14. Part 121.309. Appendix A-1. First-aid kits and emergency medical kits. Washington, D.C.: Federal Aviation Administration, 1993.
   

2. 2

   Guidelines for prevention of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus to health-care and public-safety workers. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 1989;38:Suppl 6:3-21, 28
   

Author/Editor Response

Dr. Friedman's letter was referred to the Federal Aviation Administration, which offers the following reply:

To the Editor: Dr. Friedman's experience occurred on a foreign commercial aircraft; the Federal Aviation Administration neither prescribes nor regulates emergency medical equipment on foreign aircraft. Her information on the required contents of mandated first-aid kits and emergency medical kits is accurate.

Dr. Friedman's letter to the Federal Air Surgeon in June describing her experience on the transatlantic flight persuaded us that her proposal to require the inclusion of latex gloves in first-aid and emergency medical kits had merit. The Federal Air Surgeon is recommending to the Office of Flight Standards that first-aid and emergency medical kits include latex gloves. Revision of these regulations is now under consideration.

It should be noted that some U.S. air carriers voluntarily provide latex gloves on aircraft for the protection of crew members and other users of the first-aid and emergency medical kits.

Andrew F. Horne, M.D.
Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC 20591

Citing Articles (1)

Citing Articles

1. 1

   Lucie A. DiMaggio, Susan E. Rubino, Richard V. Lee. (1994) Good Samaritans or Reticent Bystanders?. Journal of Travel Medicine 1:3, 143-146
   CrossRef