Airline Emirates, a flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates, announced it is partnering with French telehealth company Parsys Telemedicine to offer inflight virtual medical services to passengers in “telemedicine stations” aboard aircraft.
Emirates has invested more than $2.4 million in co-designing telemedicine stations, which include high-definition video conferencing capabilities, secure data transmission, remote passenger assessment and a 12-Leads Telecardia ECG.
Dubbed the Parsys Telemedicine Kit for Emirates, the portable station will help the cabin crew gather information and vital signs and then transmit that information to Emirates’ Ground Medical Support, a team of medical professionals available 24/7 who sit in Emirates Group Headquarters in Dubai.
The kit includes a pulse oximeter, blood pressure monitor, thermometer, glucometer and ECG. Vital signs or readings are automatically transmitted to the medical support team via an app on the Medcapture device tablet, which uses the Parsys Cloud. The company says the Parsys Cloud ensures medical data is handled in compliance with data protection regulations.
The stations are already in use aboard numerous flights, and the stations will be rolled out to 300 aircraft over the next few years.
THE LARGER TREND
In 2023, Delta Air Lines partnered with Arizona-based medical technology company MedAire, which provides MedLink.
MedLink allows flight attendants direct access to a team of doctors via an app on Delta SkyPro mobile devices.
Air New Zealand partnered with Christchurch-based virtual reality and cognitive behavioral therapy company oVRcome to provide a low-cost exposure therapy program to individuals with a fear of flying.
Using a smartphone and the oVRcome VR headset, individuals can access exposure therapy, such as audio lessons and exercises developed by clinical psychologists that assist with getting to the airport, boarding a plane, flying through turbulence and landing.
