[What is a physician's legal responsibility in an airplane?]

A physician travelling frequently by air is likely to receive sooner or later a call for medical help during the flight. According to the Finnish law the physician has a duty to help any patient that needs urgent medical assistance and this duty applies even in the airplane. The extent of required assistance is mostly dependent on the actual skills of the physician. Temporary incapacity caused, e.g., by intoxication does not abolish the physician's duty to help but justifies the omission of procedures that are adversely influenced by the alcohol intake.