(2 Mar 2020) LEAD IN A new smart device promises to revolutionise the way airlines handle in-flight medical incidents.
This has the potential to save the airline industry millions of dollars each year in avoiding unnecessary flight diversions.
STORY-LINE
A smart device that sends data from ill passengers in airplanes in real time to medical professionals on the ground could be a game changer for the way airlines deal with in-flight medical incidents.
Flight diversions are expensive and can be risky. Avoiding unnecessary landings would save the airline industry millions of dollars annually.
Aiber, which has been developed by a medical technology company in Scotland, called MIME Technologies, has the potential to save lives and money.
Anne Roberts, the co-founder & chief executive officer of MIME Technologies explains: "Our technology is designed to help people who are in remote environments where they are away from professional medical care and at 30,000 feet in the air an aircraft is one of those environments. So, what we do is we design technology to help cabin crew during a medical emergency or a medical event that takes place on board."
The ability to send data from the airplane to medical staff on the ground in real-time could assist the airlines in objectively monitoring whether a passenger's health condition is stable or worsening.
"The beauty with Mime is that it is real time and should the aircraft have connectivity on board, then we can send that data at that point, enabling the real time information of the passenger, the real physiology of the passenger to be viewed by a medic on the ground" says Roberts.
Roberts illustrates how the Aiber smart device would be attached to a passenger to monitor their condition.
"The data will record the ECG, now it is not for the cabin crew to read it, it is for clinicians on the ground to make that determination. So, we will send that data straight to doctors on the ground, " says Roberts.
Some older systems require cabin crew to phone medical staff using satellite phones for example, which means the crew member would leave the passenger's side. If crew members use Aiber smart device they can stay by the passenger's side.
"We have a mechanism or feature in Aiber, which allows the crew to communicate in real time to ground and for ground medics to review that data and recommend. And this is using a digital functionality, so there is no interreference of vibration or noise for example that you might get on a head set or phone. That is one of the key changes that we are offering," Roberts says.
According to the International Air Transport Association a diverted flight could cost an airline in excess of 500,000 US dollars per flight. Major airlines could divert as many as 60 flights in one year for medical reasons. Roberts says Aiber could prevent that in future:
"So, one of the big impacts that Aiber can have to help to reduce those unnecessary diversions."
The Association expects the number of people who travel by plane to more than double in the next 20 years. The four billion people travelling by plane each year is expected to rise to 8.2 billion by 2037. And with people living longer and travelling more frequently this would mean a potential increase in medical events in flight.
Archie Liggat is a retired commercial and military pilot who is now the Chairman of the UK Civil Air Patrol, a registered charity based in Scotland.
Find out more about AP Archive:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Google+:
Tumblr:
Instagram:
You can license this story through AP Archive:
0 Comments