Emirates’ cabin crew can now obtain clinically-accurate vital signs data from a passenger who has taken ill in flight, This comes with the introduction of the new passenger health monitoring system, Tempus, from UK-based Remote Diagnostic Technologies Ltd (RDT).

Tempus records a passenger’s blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, electrocardiogram (ECG), blood oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.

The data is then sent via the inflight communications system to emergency medical specialists at the Medlink Response Centre in Phoenix, USA, who can diagnose the problem and advise the crew on the best course of action.

Emirates is among three airlines worldwide who have purchased the technology, with a number of others expected to follow suit shortly.

Cliff Webster, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Medical Services, said:

“Emirates takes the health and safety of its passengers very seriously. We are confident that with Tempus our customers will receive the best medical care currently available on board aircraft today.”

“The system enables medical teams on the ground to differentiate between a serious and a minor medical condition, which will reassure an ill passenger.”

The Tempus is now installed in all Emirates’ Airbus A340-500 aircraft which are currently operating services between Dubai and New York, Osaka, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Christchurch.

The unit will be fitted into the Airbus A380-800 aircraft and the long-range Boeing 777s currently on order.

RDT Managing Director Graham Murphy said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Emirates. Tempus enables fast, informed medical decisions to be taken, ensuring passengers and their families receive the highest quality of medical care.”

Emirates’ pursers and senior flight stewards are fully trained in the use of the Tempus monitoring system, which sends high-resolution pictures of the passenger to the ground-based medical team in order to help with diagnosis and first-aid treatment.

Emirates crew can contact the medical team on the ground by satellite telephone from either the flight deck or a seat phone no matter where they are flying around the globe. Physicians manning the 24-hour Medlink service will advise and guide crew or a medically-qualified onboard volunteer on how best to help the passenger.
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