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As a physician who travels quite a lot, I spend a lot of time on planes listening for that dreaded Is there a doctor on board? announcement. Ive been 71 only once ? for a woman who had merely fainted. But the 72 made me quite curious about how 73 this kind of thing happens I wondered what I would do if 74 with a real midair medical emergency-with out access 75 a hospital staff and the usual emergency equipment. So 76 the New England Journal of Medicine last week 77 a study about in ?flight medical events. I read it 78 interest. The study estimated that there are a(n) 79 of 30 in-flight medical emergencies on U.S. flights every day. Most of them are not 80;fainting and dizziness are the most frequent complaints. 81 13% of them ?roughly four a day ? are serious enough to 82 a pilot to change course. The most common of the serious emergencies 83 heart trouble. strokes, and difficulty breathing. Lets face it: plane rides are 84.For starters, cabin pressures at high altitudes are set at roughly 85 they would be if you lived at 5,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Most people can tolerate these pressures pretty 86 ,but passengers with heart disease 87 experience chest pains as result of the reduced amount of oxygen flowing through their blood. 88 common in-flight problem is deep venous thrombosis ? the so-called economy class syndrome (综合症).89 happens, dont panic. Things are getting better on the in-flight-emergency front. Thanks to more recent legislation, flights with at 90 one attendant are starting to install emergency medical kits to treat heart attacks. | 
