Doctor slammed as 'a**hole' for refusing to answer medical help call on flight
A doctor refused to help a sick patient on a flight after enjoying a few in-air drinks.
"Is there a doctor onboard?" is an intercom question that has been immortalised by its inclusion in countless films such as the comedy aviation classic Airplane! It is also, sadly, something that cabin crews find themselves asking fairly regularly.
Given that UK based airlines transported more than 100million passengers in 2022, when the industry was still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, it is not statistically surprising that incidents of illness on aircraft are not that rare.
One man in his mid-30s recently took to Reddit to explain how he had heard that announcement and - despite being a trained medical doctor - opted not to help.
The call for help rang out across the cabin (Getty Images/Uppercut RF)"I’m a medical doctor working as an internal medicine hospitalist at a major hospital. Recently I was on a long haul international flight," the doctor explained. "Usually I sleep on flights but this was during my waking hours so I decided to spend my time enjoying the inflight entertainment and free drinks. I had already been drinking even before the flight while I was in the lounge.
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"I was not slurring or excessively drunk but I was feeling a strong buzz. Usually I don’t chat with my co-passengers, I just sleep or do my own thing. On this flight the configuration of the business class cabin was such that the passengers in the middle row were practically just beside each other.
"There was just a small barrier separating me and my co-passenger (F, mid 30s) that could be raised but it still didn’t do much to separate us. She started up a conversation and being a little intoxicated, I was also feeling chatty.
"When she asked what I do I mentioned I’m a doctor and I work at such and such hospital. After some more small talk we both started doing our own thing."
A short while later, as the man was watching a film and enjoying another drink, he heard an announcement asking if there was a doctor onboard.
"Normally I would present myself to the cabin crew and help out but after several hours of on flight boozing, I was pretty drunk. I was not able to think clearly and probably would have done more harm than good in such a situation," the doctor said.
"I didn’t react to the announcement at all. I continued watching my movie and drinking my drink. My co-passenger tapped me and said they just announced they need a doctor. I replied that someone else would help or they would get instructions from the medical team on the ground.
When she tried one more time and he still refused, she called him "an unbelievable a**hole" and said that he would be to blame if the passenger passed away. He told her that "just because I’m a doctor doesn’t mean I’m not on call 24/7 to provide medical care on demand", prompting her to have a "disgusted look" and cutting all conversation with him for the rest of the flight.
The doctor did not find out what happened to the passenger but didn't hear any more announcements, so assumed they were okay. "While exiting the aircraft this lady called me an a**hole again," he concluded.
"In my mind, I’m very clear that since I was intoxicated I could not provide medical assistance. I was drinking on my own time and there was no expectation that I would need to be sober. Doctors get to enjoy life too, I can’t stay sober on every flight just in case there’s an emergency."
The majority of people in the comments argued that the doctor was not out of line for refusing to help, but could have gone about explaining that to his fellow passenger in a better way.
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One suggested he was an a**hole "for your unnecessarily rude attitude. A simple 'I’m too drunk' would have sufficed."
Another added: "The crew would not have used you in your capacity as a doctor as you were intoxicated. By law they cannot as you are well aware. They would’ve gotten assistance from another sober doctor on board and the ground medical team."
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