Medical Events Encountered at a Major International Airport and Health Services Provided

INTRODUCTION: Travel by airline starts and ends at airports. Thousands of people consisting of passengers, relatives of passengers, and employees gather at airports every day. In this study, medical events (MEs) encountered at Istanbul Atatürk Airport (IAA) and health services provided were analyzed.METHODS: The MEs encountered in IAA between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2018, and health services provided by the private medical clinic in the airport terminal building were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS: During the study period, 192,500,930 passengers traveled from the IAA and a total of 11,799 patients were seen at the clinic. There were 4898 (41.5%) male patients. The median age of the 9466 (80.2%) patients whose age was recorded was 34 (28-51) yr. Of 11,799 patients included in the present study, 9228 (78.21%) patients had medical complaints, 1122 (9.5%) patients had trauma complaints, 1180 patients (10%) were transferred to the hospital, and 269 (2.27%) patients required a certificate of preflight fitness. The most common medical complaint was gastrointestinal (1515 patients, 12.84%). The most common trauma was soft tissue injury (345 patients, 2.92%).DISCUSSION: MEs in airports can be as various and also critical as health conditions seen in emergency departments. It is important to provide medical services with an experienced medical team trained in aviation medicine and adequate medical equipment at airports.Ceyhan MA, Demir GG, Cömertpay E, Yıldırımer Y, Kurt NG.