Travel Companion
Flying Angels provides medical travel companion services for individuals who may need assitance while flying on a commercial airline.
Long Distance Medical Transport
Discover how long distance medical transport offers those with limited mobility a safe and trusted way to travel by commercial airline.
Hospital Discharge Transportation
Hospital Discharge Transportation Hospital Discharge Transportation From Flying Angels A trip to the hospital can easily become a stressful, anxious experience. While patients and family members focus on medical treatment and the patient’s health, they may not have...
Can I Fly With a Broken Leg?
It’s possible to fly with a broken leg or any other broken or fractured bone if a doctor clears you for flying. However, there are rules and regulations that everyone should know about, as well as best practices to make the trip as comfortable as possible.
The first, more important step is getting the green light to fly from a physician. That includes your regular physician at home or a doctor in another location if you are injured while on vacation and require medical reparation.
Experienced flight nurses like those who work for Flying Angels have years of experience in aviation physiology and understand how to manage medical treatment for those with many different illnesses and conditions, including broken bones.
Can I Hire a Nurse to Fly With Me?
Best Practices To Fly With a Broken Leg
The following provides an overview of the process you must go through if you want to fly with a broken leg. Keep in mind that a non-emergency medical transport company deals with many of these issues if you decide to fly with a flight nurse.
Speak With Physician
Do not book a flight until a physician gives you clearance to fly. This is especially an issue if the broken or fractured bone happened recently. In the first days after a break occurs, swelling is a frequent issue and may worsen if you sit on a long flight. The chance of a blood clot may increase with a broken leg, too, especially on a long flight. Follow whatever advice they give you and wait until they decide you may safely travel.
Contact the Airline
Reach out to the airline and find out if they have any rules prohibiting people from flying with the type of cast you have on your leg. It’s also possible you may need to purchase an extra seat in order to stretch your leg out during the flight. This is also the time to make any special requests you might have, such as requiring a wheelchair. Also, when booking the flight, request a bulkhead seat for more leg room, or at least an aisle seat.
Medications
Pack any medication you are taking for the broken leg in your carry-on bags, not your checked-in luggage. Make sure to have water available so you can take your pills when necessary.
Flying with Oxygen & Medications
Extra Time
Arrive early at the airport to give yourself extra time to get through check in and security. You will likely need extra time at security, as you can expect them to physically check out your cast, including the possibility they will swab it to detect explosives. If you use crutches or a wheelchair, they also will go through the metal detector.
Boarding
Airlines provide a window early on in boarding for those with special conditions – including those with a broken leg – to board before anyone else, allowing you to get situated before the main rush of passengers boards the plane.
At any point, don’t hesitate to ask for help from airport or airline personnel. If you do not fly with a nurse, consider bringing someone to the airport with you to help get to security (or to the gate if allowed). While obviously not an ideal situation, you can fly with a broken leg if you take the proper medical precautions and follow best practices at the airport and on the plane. You also want to consider hiring a flight nurse who can handle many of these issues for you, as well as give you the peace of mind of having an experienced medical care provider with you throughout your trip.
How to Help Medical Elopement Patients Travel
Patient elopement is a common issue that often stems from other behavioral issues, including dementia. Elopement patients can present many problems for their loved ones, especially during elopement patient travel. Such situations usually go better with medical professionals involved, strong guidelines to follow and a focus on patient safety.
Much like air travel for dementia patients, elopement patient travel requires a different approach than regular non-emergency medical transport (NEMT). Physicians may recommend that elopement patients not travel at all. They may feel more inclined to allow it if medical professionals are on hand.
What Is An Elopement Patient?
The term “elopement patient” refers to someone who leaves a care facility, including hospitals or nursing homes, without permission. These unauthorized decisions put the patient in danger of injury or worse.
In most cases, the term refers to those with dementia leaving a safe area, most often their home or a care facility, according to Very Well Health. Elopement patients may decide to leave intentionally, although in many cases it is unintentional. The patient simply walks with a destination in mind, but soon becomes lost (a situation called “wandering”).
In many cases, an elopement patient leaves a building if they do not have constant supervision. They may decide to leave when sent to another area to get a blood test or medical procedure, or while going to the bathroom.
8 Flying Myths People Think Are True
Dealing With Elopement Patients
Most medical facilities have procedures in place to manage elopement patients. Writing about the issue for Health Leaders Media, a nurse recommended that nurses always immediately identify those at a higher risk for elopement. They include those with severe psychosis, dementia, or drug and alcohol withdrawal.
But elopement can happen with anyone. Warning signs of those at a high risk for elopement include:
- A history of attempted elopement or wandering
- Talking about leaving, wanting to go to work or go home
- Restlessness and agitation
- Showing signs and symptoms of dementia
- The ability to move freely, with or without a wheelchair or walker, when they have other signs on this list
- Those able-bodied enough that people may mistake them for a visitor
Elopement Patient Travel
All the above precautions and signs also apply to elopement patient travel. As elopement patients typically have some level of dementia, the rules offered by the Alzheimer’s Association for travel apply in this situation.
The association recommends planning ahead, not overloading the person with too much information, and sticking with familiar destinations. People should avoid elaborate tours or sightseeing, both of which could overwhelm or confuse a person with dementia. They also recommend that those traveling with a person who has dementia to stay with them at all times.
People can benefit from having a trained nurse on the journey who can watch the patient closely during their trip. They also manage medication and equipment and provide any medical services required during the trip. A trained flight nurse can provide both the patient and their family peace of mind.
Having an experienced medical professional while traveling with an elopement patient is key to having a calm trip. While elopement patient travel presents unique challenges, proper care and planning can allow everyone involved to enjoy the trip.