IATA release tips in responsing to swine flu during air travel
Recently, World Health Organization (WHO) has not announce any recommendation in restrictions on travel and tour for swine flue. Most countries have enhanced border and airport security, encourage people to cancel travel schedule to the epidemic areas.
The following advice given by WHO and IATA are tips for tourists' health care during air travel, and suggestion on the problem how to reduce the chance of disease trasmission in air transportation.
What travelers should do?
1. Often wash hands.
2. Avoid to touch the patients.
3. Avoid to touch animals in markets.
4. If a patient needed to travel, consult a doctor first.
Whether the virus spreads on a travel plane?
Although IATA said that modern aircrafts equiped with advanced air filtration system can obviously improve air quality , the bacteria will spread through air in the cabin.
WHO experts have mentioned, virus such as tuberculosis, has a 8 hours proliferation period on a travel plane and travelers close to the patient are under high risk to be infected.
How to deal with the patient if someone falled ill on a travel plane?
Before swine flu's outbreak, the airlines has been told that if a passenger got a high fever over 38 degrees Celsius or appeared as one of the following syptoms, measures should be taken:
- Obviously discomfort
- Persistent cough
- Breath disordered
- Continuing diarrhea
- Continued vomiting
- Rashes
- Inexplicable injury or bleeding
- Post-traumatic stress disorder thoughts
For these cases, flight attendants should ask for assistance to ground staff or passengers. If the staff failed in obtaining medical assistance, the airline company should take the follwing measures:
- Transfer the patient to somewhere there were fewer passengers.
- Specify a staff to take care of the patient.
- Earmark a toilet for the patient.
- Require the patient to wear a respirator.
- Place the waste items (paper towels, pillows, bed sheets, chair sets, etc) which the patient has touched in pockets marked as "Biohazard".
- Make sure whether the other passengers have the same similar symptoms.
- Keep safe of the passenger's baggage
- Report the suspected cases to the captain or air traffic control personnel.
- Require the passengers who sit close to the patient to fill out the track positioning card.