In fact, Virgin Atlantic used to equip its aircraft with ECG machines in the early 2000s, but the carrier recently replaced them with the smallest and lightest mobile ECG kits in the world. This happened after the previous supplier stopped development. Thus, Virgin Atlantic remains the only one in the UK with the ability to conduct an ECG at an altitude of 10 000 meters.
ECG while flying at a speed of 900 km per hour – not only the pursuit of advanced technology. Lack of timely diagnosis of cardiovascular conditions is the most common cause of devastating, costly and sometimes unnecessary medical intervention.
The plug-and-play mobile ECG solution from German medical technology provider CardioSecur weighs only 50 grams and allows you to perform a full ECG using your iPad and then share the results over the aircraft's Wi-Fi to medical experts on the ground.
Flight attendants require minimal training to perform an ECG using the CardioSecur platform. The process is simplified by the fact that only four points on the body are required to conduct the study.
Virgin Atlantic followed the example of the German Lufthansa, which in 2019 introduced the CardioSecur platform on its long-haul liners. The ECG data is automatically shared with a third party provider such as Medlink or SOS International who have physicians on standby to review the ECG and make further decisions.
At the same time, the British carrier remains the first and only in the world to equip its entire fleet with ECG devices.
After the lifting of pandemic-related travel restrictions, airlines regularly report an increase in the number of in-flight medical deviations, which in the first turn due to the fact that people with serious and long-term health problems no longer postpone air travel and go to see the world while they still have the opportunity.
Flight attendants around the world today are undergoing extensive additional aviation medicine, including procedures for artificial respiration, treatment of heart attacks and even childbirth.
Initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately can double, and in some cases even triple, a person's chance of surviving a cardiac arrest, according to the UK National Institutes of Health.< /p>
And early defibrillation using an automated external defibrillator within 3-5 minutes of a collapse can further increase the chances of survival—up to 50 percent and sometimes 70 percent.