Q: On a recent Delta flight, an announcement was made asking if a doctor or EMT was on board. One was, and he attended to a sick passenger. Does the airline compensate medical volunteers? What about license and liability insurance issues?
—Frank Manfre, Grayson
A: Delta doesn't compensate medical professionals who volunteer to help with medical emergencies on flights, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based airline told Q&A on the News in an email. They generally are provided a voucher and a thank-you email or letter.
The 1998 Aviation Medical Assistance Act includes a Good Samaritan clause, which protects physicians and health care professionals who may volunteer in-flight medical assistance from liability risks, outside of gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Delta recently revised its process for vetting a volunteer medical professional to accept the volunteer’s verbal statement that he or she is a physician, physician assistant, nurse, EMT or paramedic. Prior to the December revision, Delta’s standard procedure required flight attendants to verify a volunteer’s medical credentials before they could assist in a medical situation. No regulations address an airline’s role in licensure validation.
Delta’s ground medical support vendor, STAT-MD (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center), assists the flight attendants and/or medical volunteers.
Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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