Ever Treat a Patient on a Plane? Why Med Kits Need an Update

This discussion was recorded on July 11, 2022. This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Robert D. Glatter, MD: Welcome. I'm Dr Robert Glatter, medical advisor for Medscape Emergency Medicine. Today, we have a distinguished panel joining to discuss important issues surrounding emergency medical kits (EMKs) on domestic flights in the United States.

Here to discuss this important topic is Dr Andrea Merrill, a surgical oncologist at Boston Medical Center, along with Dr Amy Ho, an emergency medicine physician and senior vice president/chief of clinical informatics for Integrative Emergency Services in Dallas, Texas. Also joining us is Lianne Mandelbaum, founder of No Nut Traveler and an airline correspondent for Allergic Living magazine.

Welcome, everyone.

Amy F. Ho, MD, MPH: Thanks so much for having us, Rob.

Glatter: My pleasure. Thank you for joining.

Dr Merrill, I'd like to start with you. A recent tweet you posted became a hit on the internet, receiving nearly 500,000 likes and 57,000 retweets as you assisted a passenger with a medical emergency in flight going toward Europe.

What you found in the medical kit was really concerning. I'm going to let you discuss this in detail and what you did exactly to help support this