Managing in flight emergencies

BMJ 1995;311:1507 (2 December)

Letters

Managing in flight emergencies

Emergency kit will now contain fatal dose of lignocaine

EDITOR,--While we admire the way in which W Angus Wallace andT Wong dealt with a tension pneumothorax under the adverse circumstancesof a long haul flight, some comments have left us confused andconcerned.¹

The inability of both clinicians to calculate the percentageof lignocaine provided (1%) serves to highlight the findingsof S R

olfe andN J N Harper that many doctors are confused by the varyingpresentations of the drug content of an ampoule.² Nevertheless,it seems that the lignocaine was used, as the chest drain wasinserted "under local anaesthetic." In the discussion the authorscomment that "a suitable local anaesthetic would, however, havebeen a helpful addition." This implies that the 1% lignocaineprovided, and presumably used, was inadequate. Finally, theplan to include a 20 ml multidose phial of 2% lignocaine inthe M5 medical . . . [Full text of this article]