John Scalzi: There was a medical emergency on my flight (the person is fine now) and when the flight attendants asked for people with medical experience to assist, several people came forward immediately. Relatedly, I believe I may have discovered a life hack for timely, affordable medical care in the US.

There was a medical emergency on my flight (the person is fine now) and when the flight attendants asked for people with medical experience to assist, several people came forward immediately. Relatedly, I believe I may have discovered a life hack for timely, affordable medical care in the US.

Nah, they still get billed, and wait until you see the roaming charge.

Guaranteed to be an out-of-network provider.

And no prior authorization!

Cheaper than an ambulance.

God I hate this so much thank you for putting it in my brain

(sincere) for both parts of that btw

Ouch. The truth of this comment hurts.

I'm a dispatcher for a major airline, and I don't think I've ever had a flight call about a medical emergency and there NOT be some kinda medical person onboard.

That is very reassuring to hear!

But what if one of them is a quack?

Well, that's why we have our own teledocs that are the actual authority for any treatment/decisions given while in flight.

That's pretty reassuring.

Oh god what if you got a chiropractor?

If you fly Spirit you’ll get a crystal healer and they’ll charge you for the Himalayan salt.

Spirit would probably charge you for calling for a doctor.

unlikely, quacks would freak out in a real emergency and since there’s no money in it for them, they wouldn’t bother anyway.

Maybe it's like matching birthdays, and it's statistically likely that all flights will have a doctor on board. Which is great, until the passenger with medical issues IS the only doctor on board.

"Is there a doctor on the plane?!" "I'm a doctor." [lifts pants leg] "Does this rash look weird to you?"

Hey I've got an idea, what if we set up places for people with medical experience to hang out, and when someone needs health care they can go there?

🏆

Til something goes wrong and someone gets sued. /sigh It sounds so good in theory, but in reality?

The only thing more horrifying than this joke is that it's actually not a joke. My last ambulance ride and ER visit cost more than my last flight, and not only did they turn out medically mild, the flight was transatlantic.

"John Scalzi's health plan involves Death Planes"

+100 for the anagram

“Congratulations! With Gold Medallion perks your copay for this flight is … zero!”

Booking a flight to get medical care is cheaper than going to a hospital

Shhh, they might make us start booking our flights 6 months in advance.

It used to be better even! www.nursing.virginia.edu/news/nurse-s...

Flashback Friday - Heyday of the Nurse Stewardesswww.nursing.virginia.edu During the Depression, many nurses eagerly sought jobs in the transportation lines—ships, planes, and trains—looking for new opportunities for their skills. Airlines began employing nurses in the earl...

This was interesting, thank you!

Omg! Is this how I get someone to care about my prolapsing organs!?!?!?!

with how seating on planes ✈️ are so cramped and over sold I am surprised anybody could get up to help

Just exist in a tube full of doctors, ez

If you can afford a plane ticket

One of my supervisors (a radiation oncologist) was the only doctor to respond to a call about a man having a heart attack on her flight. Not her specialty but she did her best. Felt pretty good, but she was very annoyed when she ran into a cardiologist she knew at the baggage carousel.

My worst fear unlocked

Hmm, that depends. How much will it cost to replace my wheelchair after the airline wrecks it?

The last few times i provided in flight care as an MD, i got 5,000 miles (retail value: US$100). Those gifts come like stock options, as hidden bumps to the cost of tickets. Nothing is ever really free (also, yes I stabilized them, but asked for transfer to hospital, in America, so probably: ouch).

OMG you're genius!

If a flight attendant requests medical treatment for a passenger in line with the airline's in-flight policies, who gets the invoice for any treatment given? The passenger, the flight attendant, or the airline?

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It's usually some doctor in an Arizona or New Mexico call center (saw a doc about it once) giving advice to pilots/crew flying worldwide. They're having to diagnose problems and figure out if nearby landing sites have access to proper medical care.

Please don't start riding planes everywhere in America just for healthcare. Doctors in the sky on a normal plane can only administer emergency trauma onsite care and order the plane down in an airport nearest a good ER-equipped hospital.

This is genius! 🚑👨🏻‍🔬

& all you gotta do is risk being sucked out an airplane door thousands of miles in miles in the air.... & how about that airline food? Yuck-a-roony!

as compared to hospital food??

If only Operating Rooms could fly.

That'd be going expensive, having a airplane, attendants and passengers around at any time for the case of urgent medical help. I would think about that again...

Isn’t like a plane ticket to anywhere international from the US that same hack? 🫢

That’s one approach eh?

You might be on to something!

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