"Most experts agree"

doi:10.1136/bmj.39525.512176.3A

BMJ 2008;336:684 (29 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.39525.512176.3A

Letters

Cabin fever

"Most experts agree"

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Despite the emergence of evidence based medicine, so calledexpert consensus continues to be used to perpetuate myths, inthis case that the frequency of inflight medical emergenciesis rising.¹

Data from airline cabin crew reports show wide variation becauseof differing reporting processes and thresholds. Passenger demographicsmay be changing, such that the average age of passengers isincreasing, but I know of no robust evidence that this is associatedwith more inflight medical problems—the current generationmay well be fitter and more able to travel than previous generations.

If inflight medical incidents were becoming more common, wewould expect to see increasing trends for medical diversionsand for deaths. We have examined the data for our airline—BritishAirways—a global international carrier.

Although medical diversions are increasing as a percentage ofthe total, this reflects a reduction in other causes, and thefrequency of medical diversions has not increased. . . . [Full text of this article]

Nigel P Dowdall, head of health services, British Airways

¹ Harmondsworth UB7 0GB

nigel.dowdall@ba.com