AIRLINE ARE NOT required to carry defibrillators on board planes, according to a spokesperson at the Irish Aviation Authority.
TheJournal.ie made the enquiry after a doctor wrote a letter to The Irish Times, stating that no emergency medicines such as adrenaline, morphine and aspirin are available on Ryanair flights – “but most alarmingly of all, there are no defibrillators for cardiac arrests” on board Ryanair flights.
Defibrillators work by delivering a charge of energy to a person who has suffered a heart attack. The aim is that the shock resets the heart so that it can begin beating normally again.
According to a spokesperson at the Irish Aviation Authority, airlines are not required to carry defibrillators under European law. She said that because airplanes can make emergency landings when flying over European soil, there was no requirement for them.
In response to an emailed question from TheJournal.ie, a Ryanair spokseman said:
The safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft is Ryanair’s number one priority. Ryanair meets all regulatory requirements in terms of medical assistance provided on its flights.
Aer Lingus does carry defibrillators, but only on transatlantic flights.
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