Is the patient fit to travel by air ?

Abstract EN

Approximately I billion people travel by air each year11 \ it is predicted that the number will double within the next twenty years, with an increase in older and sick passen¬gers, many of them travelling to obtain treatment.

In many respects the modern airline is a very suitable vehicle for the transport of invalids but it has some serious limitations.

Patients usually ask their physicians whether they can travel by air and if so what precautions they should take.

This article is intended as a guide to doctors on the physi¬ology of the flight environment and its effects on invalids and those with medical conditions requiring special atten¬tion and arrangements prior to, during and after the flight, to avoid aggravating the illness, loss of life, and inconve¬nience to other passengers.

To assess the fitness of a person to travel on a long in¬ternational journey by air, and to ensure that adequate ar¬rangements are made for his comfort and well being, it may be necessary to consider not only a single sector of a flight but instead a series of flights through a continuously changing environment including effects of altitude, climatic variations, time zone changes and other physical and physi-ological factors, always bearing in mind the limited medi¬cal resources and the medically unqualified personnel on board an aircraft.

Each case must be considered on its individual merits.

These notes are for general guidance only and do not cover aeromedical evacuation.