China Airlines, Taiwan Medical Association Team Up|華航"機上愛心醫師"專案 邀醫師參與登錄

Good news to travelers. China Airlines and the Taiwan Medical Association have teamed up to strengthen the airline's in-flight health care services. They have invited the nation's 40,000 doctors to register with them, so that if an in-flight health emergency arises in the future, flight attendants can immediately check for registered doctors aboard, to provide assistance as soon as possible.


A passenger aboard this plane has an epileptic seizure in the middle of the flight. Luckily, there is a doctor on board to provide immediate medical care. The doctor gives oxygen to the patient and helps him to lie down. In-flight medical emergencies occur from time to time. To systemize in-flight medical treatment, China Airlines and the Taiwan Medical Association have teamed up to launch a doctor registration system for flights. If a doctor is on a flight and an emergency occurs, he or she can then provide immediate assistance.

When the doctor boards the plane, our flight attendants will be able to see on the passenger manifest where the doctor is sitting and be able to locate him or her to provide any necessary emergency treatment. When it comes to emergency medical treatment, one minute, one second can make all the difference.

The airline says the most common types of medical incidents that occur on flights are fainting, breathing problems, vomiting, heart problems and epileptic seizures. Many doctors are not willing to volunteer their services should an in-flight medical emergency occur because they are afraid of lawsuits. As such, China Airlines is offering third party accident liability insurance to doctors who take part in this program.

It's still not clearly defined even now whether there is the privilege of immunity, so many of our medical personnel feel a bit apprehensive when they do these types of things.

Although there are safeguards under the law, there may still be frivolous lawsuits, disputes and inconveniences. We will see what we can do to reduce this.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare says although the Emergency Medical Services Act stipulates that off-duty doctors shall not bear liability when providing medical treatment, the act still needs to be examined to determine whether it is complete. Statistics show Taiwan currently has 47,000 Western medicine doctors, all of whom can register for this program.