Do doctors who travel by air have to surrender their black bags as checked luggage?
Asked by
Jeruba (
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May 29th, 2009
I read in today’s paper about two vacationing cops who had to subdue a dangerously out-of-control passenger during a long Pacific flight, without any of their usual gear. They responded to a call for any law enforcement officers on board, just as a situation might produce a call for a doctor on board.
If a medical emergency did arise in flight, would a doctor traveling these days have his or her black bag of basic equipment at hand or not?
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13 Answers
I’m sure most commercial flights are equipped with some type of emergency kit of their own.
do doctors even carry black bags anymore?
No doubt, but my question is about the doctors, not the airplanes; i.e., are the tools of a helping professional now classed as dangerous weapons?
Don’t they?
I would have to assume, since you are not allowed scissors or pocket knives or even plastic toy guns that they would not be able to take any of their equipment on board as hand luggage. Just like everyone else. What if someone was pretending to be a doctor and then used the tools to hijack the plane? If an emergency did arise I’m sure there is a medically qualified person on each plane and a first aid kit at least.
I don’t think they would be able to, no. Aren’t the air staff trained in first aid anyway, and on occasion, to a pretty high level?
@shrubbery Baggage rules are dumb. If I wanted to hijack a plane, I’d use a sharp plastic tool instead of a knife.
Not to mention the fact that a bunch of us could turn our phones on at the same time and ditch the plane in the ocean. ~
I have an answer:
According to a Captain for Delta Airlines doctors are not allowed to bring on board their kits and have to follow the same rules as any passenger.
However- each aircraft is equipped with an extensive medical kit that contains everything a doctor would have in their black bag. Additionally it contains a defibrillator and oxygen. In an emergency, if a doctor is not presently on board, the flight staff has been trained to provide emergency medical care.
@richardhenry, yeah I know, I mean you get plastic knives but metal forks… you could just as easily stab someone with a metal fork as a knive if you really waned to…
As a general rule qhen i travel (be it by air land or sea) i don’t carry any medical equipment with me. I live and breathe medicine but it is a JOB… if i’m traveling to a conference or on holiday i’m not going to take anything along. Would a mechanic take his tools on a flight? would a waiter take his tray? would a lion tamer take his cats?
Most doctors will do our best to help any person having a medical emergency in any given situation if called upon (if we are physically the closest doctor to the event) but we don’t go around with scalpels in our pockets looking for people to work on in our leisure time.
We like R & R as much as the next guy and are not on constant vigil.
@Dr_C Then I suppose elective surgery during extended flights is not an option?
@Dog Depends… i might look ino offering a mile-high cosmetic surgery package when i get my practice up and running… I love to fly! ;)
@Dr_C I can see a new trend! Sign me up!
”...but we don’t go around with scalpels in our pockets looking for people to work on in our leisure time.”
/giggle.
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