[Goldielox]

The nearest hospital to T5 is Hillingdon which is 7 miles away depending on the day and time and traffic it can take between 15-20 mins to arrive (according to Google) sometimes even longer, once at the terminal it will also take a further 5 mins if not more to get to the casualty .

[MartynSinclair]

Where to the medics on bikes come from that I have seen around T5… or was I thinking of another European airport.

[cityprofessional]

@MartynSinclair. Apparently there are 15 of them, and 100 front line LHR staff are first aid trained:
http://mediacentre.heathrowairport.com/Press-releases/Heathrow-safest-place-in-London-to-have-a-cardiac-arrest-63c.aspx

So apparently, we were all wrong. Heathrow is the safest place in London to have a heart attack, according to the press release. There I was thinking I should go to A&E…

Edited to add. Maybe the OP’s experience was unusual. No complaints, and a pretty fast response, from one FTer:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1620297-they-may-seen-dragons-but-i-have-no-complaints.html

[SimonRowberry]

I had a heart attack on June 14. I was at home in bed (UK). Between the time my wife called the ambulance and my coming out of surgery was less than 90 minutes. I was very, very lucky.

The only problem is now getting travel insurance. I am currently on my first trip since the incident and am effectively uninsured.

Simon

[rferguson]

Having a de-fib in XYZ is one thing – having staff trained in the use of the machine and confident in using it is another.

There is two bicycle based paramedics in T5 at all times whilst flights are arriving and departing. S/he also carries a defib.

[MartynSinclair]

Simon – sorry to hear about your h/a… I hope you are well on the way to a full recovery. Presume you have taken the opportunity to give the ‘sticks’ up…. :))

[DavidGordon10]

A number of posters on this thread have been writing about the benefits of screening for various medical conditions.

Screening is a highly technical subject. When examined rigorously, the evidence is that some screening is useful, much is harmless but not useful, and much is harmful. I know the latter statement is counter-intuitive, but it is true.

For myself (67 years healthy male) I accept screening for bowel cancer, which has proven benefit, but not (for example) for prostate cancer, where the harm probably outweighs any possible benefit.

The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screening_%28medicine%29) deals with this difficult subject quite well.

Should there be defibrillators in public places? The evidence is “yes”.

[ImissConcorde]

SimonRowberry

Safe travels.
The British Heart Foundation website has useful information on insurance.

[Tim2soza]

SimonRowberry May I echo MartynSinclair’s sentiments with a +1.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ coudntthinkofaname – 13/10/2014 19:16 GMT

“Anyway, just spotted the article below from August 2013 which would indicate that standards at Heathrow are slipping (or worse still that the AED has been enhanced away by BA!)”

The article

http://www.aed.com/blog/heathrow-airport-boasts-74-cardiac-arrest-survival-rate/

sets out that:

“Heathrow also has 15 paramedics from London Ambulance Service who traverse the airport by bike. They are able to reach 93.6% of serious injuries and illnesses in the airport within 8 minutes. The city of London has set a goal for 75% of such cases to be reached by paramedics within 8 minutes, so once again Heathrow outpaces the city as a whole.”

So, the service is provided by neither BA nor Heathrow Airport Ltd. It is, instead, provided by the London Ambulance service which – in common with the entire UK public sector – has been having to face serious resource constraints since 2010. You might not have noticed but there was a 4-hour walkout of nursing and ambulance staffs across much of the UK yesterday because of a dispute over pay increments after four years of public sector pay restraint. I dare say that LAS is having some issues with its manpower levels and deployments and perhaps that is rather more the issue here.

[MrMichael]

Simonrowberry, me too regarding sentiments about your health, glad your ok and can worry about travel insurance.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ MrMichael – 14/10/2014 19:43 GMT

+1

Simon: best wishes for your recuperation. I am sure that your wife will be making sure that you keep up with the programme!

[rodders]

Jamesay
Agree with the other posters, is there a good place for a heart attack??
My youngest son had a seizure at T4 some years ago and the medics on bikes were there in a few minutes, but we were not screened off, or anything else, this happened just after security, so I think you are being a tad harsh in your assessment of this incident!

[JasmineBear]

@jamesay

1). It is not BA’s responsibility alone……Anyone can and should call 999 if they witness a collapse – However, it is critical when making the call that you stress that it is “An Emergency” and if you are sufficiently confident of your diagnosis “Suspected Heart Attack” – The protocols will then mean the correct (hopefully) first responder arrives. These pieces of information will also trigger in London at least, the potential transfer of a patient with suspected ST elevation Myocardial Infarction to a cardiac catheter centre, which offers percutaneous coronary intervention and an improved chance of survival.

2). BA don’t run the London Ambulance Service – LAS response time have been for Category A (Life-threatening calls, i.e. target of must respond within 8 minutes) have been worsening all year. In August 2014, 65% of calls made in the London Borough of Hillingdon met this target

3). The priority of the responder performing advanced cardiac life support is the patient, The issue of screening is 1). privacy and dignity for the patient, and 2). Avoid creating distress for others.

Again it is not BA’s responsibility for this, but any bystander with a sense of decency / as a good samaritan should consider assisting the first responder, with simple things like helping to screen if they are not basic life support trained, or more actively if they feel comfortable and are trained.

[AnthonyDunn]

The tenor of this thread makes me think that the following points are perhaps more relevant:

Who knows how to recognise a cardiac arrest?
Who knows what first aid treatment to dispense before paramedics or trained medics arrive?

It is literally decades since I did my ambulance badge in the Boy Scouts (!) and if, like me, you are struggling to answer these questions, then the answer has to be put yourself through a Red Cross/St John’s Ambulance first aider course to help yourself and help others:

http://www.redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk/Courses.aspx?gclid=Cj0KEQjwtvihBRCd8fyrtfHRlJEBEiQAQcubtNxCANM3_dEdz6sF7VsoMrtkJcFaWKn-NTSeQndQUboaAnxe8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/training-courses/courses-for-the-general-public.aspx

[Author]

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