The Dubai-based airline Emirates has invested $2.4 million to develop a bespoke inflight ‘telemedicine’ medical kit that can quickly gather the vital signs of a passenger suffering a medical emergency and transmit them to a team of doctors in a control center on the ground at the carrier’s global headquarters.
Emirates has worked with the French-based telemedicine company Parsys to develop a highly customized solution designed to be operated by cabin crew in highly stressful environments with the aim of providing world-class medical care at 38,000 feet.
The sophisticated kit includes a variety of tools to capture essential vital signs, such as a pulse oximeter, thermometer, blood pressure monitor, glucometer, and even a 12-lead telecardia electrocardiogram (ECG).
Data captured by the system is then securely transmitted to Emirates’ operation room in Dubai, where a team of doctors and medical professionals can provide advice and treatment plans 24 hours a day, seven days per week.
The system includes high-definition video conferencing so doctors can assess a passenger in real time while also talking cabin crew through treatment recommendations.
In the past, Emirates has used a similar telemedicine system called Tempus IC, which is manufactured by Phillips and has been used by several other major airlines, including regional rivals Qatar Airways and Emirates, as well as Air Canada and Virgin Atlantic.
The difference between Tempus IC and Emirates’ bespoke tool is that the software has been highly customized to align with the First Aid training that the airline’s cabin crew have received, as well as the airline’s specific medical procedures.
Data is securely transmitted via Bluetooth from the various tools to an iPad without the need for cabin crew to manually record vital signs or take notes, while an “intuitive and easy-to-use design” guides cabin crew through the various stages of dealing with a medical emergency.
Over the coming years, Emirates will upgrade its in-flight telemedicine kit on more than 300 aircraft with the Parsys system. The new Parsys kit has been installed on some aircraft and has already been used to help with real-life medical emergencies.
Just recently, the Parsys system was used to help treat an elderly customer on a flight from Lyon to Dubai who suffered a cardiovascular medical emergency. The cabin crew quickly followed their training to administer oxygen to the customer while the ground-based medical support team was able to remotely monitor the customer’s vital signs and provide additional assistance.
Although telemedicine solutions are an expensive investment for airlines, they can quickly pay for themselves if they avoid the need for an airliner to divert so that a passenger can be rushed to hospital.
It’s estimated that the average cost to divert an aircraft due to a medical emergency is $120,000, while the total cost to the airline industry for medical diversions per year is as high as $552 million.
Bear in mind, however, that these figures date back to 2018, and travel demand has increased since then. Since the pandemic, there has also been an increase in severely sick passengers choosing to travel, meaning that medical diversions have been on the rise.
Back in 2013, Emirates disclosed that it was forced to divert more than 100 flights due to inflight medical emergencies at a cost of more than $12 million.
In 2019, German flag carrier Lufthansa realized that medical diversions could be avoided if medical support personnel on the ground had access to more information about a patient’s condition, so the airline invested in its own mobile ECG system called CardioSecur.
The reason that Lufthansa focused on a smaller inflight telemedicine system with fewer bells and whistles is that cardiovascular complaints are the most common cause of in-flight medical emergencies on its planes.
