I love to travel. I enjoy seeing new places, eating new foods or the comfort foods of home, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones... and my family lives on the East Coast while I'm on the West Coast, so often my travels lead me to them. Last weekend I went to the East Coast, flying through Chicago O'Hare each way... and my personal travels started the thought process for this week's blog. And then the WNBA had a massive flight disaster...
Today, the Las Vegas Aces WNBA team are scheduled to play the Washington Mystics in Washington, D.C. Initially scheduled for 7PM EST, tonight, the game was moved back an hour as the Aces were not likely to arrive in town with enough time to get to the arena before playing. (Update: ultimately the game was canceled!) They started their travels on Thursday mid-day with repeated delays shifting back their departure and arrival. What a nightmare! They spent several hours stranded in the Dallas airport... and with a good sense of humor... posted an injury report listing every player with a sleepy emoji.
Many of these details are outlined in this article... though I was following the action on twitter, primarily through Carolyn Swords, A'ja Wilson, and the Las Vegas Aces accounts. I'm really not sure what's been going on to cause these problems... doesn't look like there are weather issues in the mid-west... but shortly after the Aces got off the ground, the Indiana Fever had their flight cancelled heading to New York to play the Liberty - that game is scheduled for 3PM EST tomorrow... who knows when they'll arrive.
Anyways... a few days ago, I was flying from Hartford to Chicago with the entire US Women's National Soccer Team. I waved hello to superstar Megan Rapinoe who I've had the pleasure of crossing paths with a few times in Seattle, and I was seated next to Christen Press, across from goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and two rows behind Tobin Heath... they were all very pleasant, were able to avoid middle seats from what I could tell... and were happily taking photos with fans who recognized them. Their matching travel outfits with the USWNT logo on them didn't help them stay incognito. I wonder if the men's national team flies commercial... we all know the NBA doesn't. I don't have the time to make this a gender issue, today.
Years ago I worked as the Travel Coordinator for the Connecticut Sun WNBA Team and had been looking into chartered flight costs thanks to the help of the UConn Women's Basketball office... the cost for a charter then was about $40,000... flying commercially, even if it's an expensive flight over $500 per person on the whole team and staff made a travel party around 25 people... total cost per flight is about $12,500. It just isn't feasible right now for the WNBA teams to travel at this type of cost - especially since teams aren't permitted to travel together (unless league rules have changed). Maybe the cities that have National Women's Soccer League teams and WNBA Teams could arrange travel together so the Storm and Reign could travel to places like Chicago together and split costs of charter... but you definitely need to have more people to fill a charter to make this cost effective in the WNBA. The coaching staffs and medical staffs in the NBA make a much larger travel party than the WNBA is limited to at this point, as well. I'd certainly love to get back on the road with the Seattle Storm along with the rest of the medical crew... but the budget can't fit all that!
Lastly... when I flew out to the East Coast last week... Seattle to Chicago... I experienced my first time when they paged over the speakers for a doctor on board. Now... I know that I'm a physical therapist... but years ago I was an EMT and I am working towards urgent response training... so I figure if there wasn't a doctor on the plane, I'd potentially be more useful than someone without any medical training. I walked to the back of the plane and made myself known to the flight attendant. A nurse was sitting next to a gentleman who had experienced a seizure. The nurse said things were under control and asked me to share my seat number in case another episode occurred and more hands were needed. I went back to my seat. But this got me thinking... you see this in movies and I don't actually know what the rules say about whether I'm supposed to help. So I looked into it... and would you believe I could not find resources for physical therapists under emergency circumstances other than PTs working in an emergency department? We're supposed to be CPR and First Aid trained - but that's all I found!
I also found this article which stated that airlines hope a physician won't be on board when this occurs because an on-board physician could require urgent landing where if there isn't a doctor available, the crew reaches out to medical crews on the ground who try to help remotely triage or treat the situation. I noticed that the flight attendant had an oxygen tank and mask, first aid kit, and that there were some medications available to them. Another article shared that 70% of in-flight medical emergencies are handled by the flight crew. That paper outlines the most common medical emergencies that occur in-air, with chest pain being the number one listed outcome. I did learn that there is a federal law that protects physicians and health care providers who assist during in-air emergencies, though you should always practice medicine with the intent to "Do No Harm" and within your training restrictions. Doing absolutely nothing was not an option, in my opinion... but I'm certainly glad I didn't have to help with CPR on an airplane.
Overall - there's a lot going on up in the skies. Back to B.O.B. ... "I could use a dream or a genie or a wish to go back to a place much simpler than this..." I'm sure the Las Vegas Aces are really looking forward to flying to Connecticut tomorrow after the disaster they faced today. Let's hope they stay healthy through their game and get some good rest... and that no doctors are needed on their flight requiring them to land mid-route.
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