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It seems that Delta flights have been in the news quite a lot lately. First there was the drama of Youtuber Adam Saleh being kicked off his London to New York flight for supposedly just speaking Arabic. Though upon further review…. maybe not?
The saga of the African-American doctor Delta wouldn’t let assist in a medical emergency
Back in October, doctor Tamika Cross was traveling on a Delta flight from Detroit to Houston when another passenger fell ill onboard the flight. Offering help, she says that she felt that the Delta flight attendants were condescending to her and demanded to see her medical credentials, eventually receiving medical help from another passenger (older, white man) who “looked” more like a doctor
[“Delta to young black doctor – Sorry, sweetie, we’re looking for ACTUAL doctors“]
She shared her story on Facebook
Of course there is always more to every story than we initially hear, and the comments on the original post were interesting coming from both sides of the story
Now… an apology (and a policy change)
A few months later, the Washington Post is reporting an update in the story. Dr. Cross along with Wayne Riley, a mentor and former president of the American College of Physicians met with Delta executives in Atlanta.
Due to that meeting and other information, Delta has made a change in their policy. According to the Delta newsroom,
Effective Dec. 1, Delta flight attendants are no longer required to verify medical credentials. They can now secure a medical professional’s help based on the volunteer’s statement that he or she is a physician, physician assistant, nurse, paramedic or EMT.
As part of the review, Delta found that there is no legal or regulatory requirement upon the airline to view medical professional credentials. And, as it becomes more and more common for medical licenses to be verified online, physicians and nurses often do not carry a license with them and some states no longer issue wallet versions.
Dr. Cross says that she is satisfied with the apologies received, including from Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian and is happy that some good could come out of a negative experience
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A good doctor knows how to command authority. I understand that it’s difficult not to be self-conscious about gender and race, but confidence is in whoever assumes it.
Let’s wait and see what happens the first time a fraud causes some serious harm. There are reported cases of people practicing as “doctors” and “nurses” when they have no such qualification. Better to be safe and ask for see a medical auxiliary or doctors credentials than rely on a stranger’s word. This is PC gone mad, but then that is the legacy of Obama’s America.
I get the fraud piece but could you elaborate on “PC gone mad?” It would be tricky to know who actually has credentials in the moment but that is something that can be easily verified once the plane lands. If the person isn’t they should go to jail but I’m sure in a medical emergency you wouldn’t want to be left to sit until the plane lands. A few moments could make a difference.