Narrative:

I was informed that a male passenger had lost consciousness and that we may need to contact [medlink] if he didn't revive quickly. I asked the flight attendant to prepare for [medlink] immediately and see if there were any medical professionals onboard. I contacted [medlink] through arinc; but at our relatively low altitude communication was difficult. I monitored the conversation from the flight attendant and heard her indicate that the physician onboard was unable to hear a pulse for the man in medical distress. At that point; believing that a passenger might be gravely ill; I made the decision to divert. I ACARS'd dispatch to have an ambulance waiting. Upon arrival and after speaking to the physician who attended to the ill passenger; she said that the type of stethoscope in our emk (emergency medical kit) did not have soft rubber ear pieces that block out ambient noise and therefore it was hard to hear the patient's pulse when taking his blood pressure because of all the ambient noise in the aircraft cabin. She suggested that we upgrade to the stethoscopes with the soft rubber ear pieces to alleviate that problem in the future. Thus; the flight crew thought the passenger was possibly dying when he only had a bad case of vertigo. Replace emk stethoscopes with the type that have soft rubber ear pieces made to block out ambient noise. This would hopefully prevent this type of misunderstanding and would also allow for a more accurate assessment of an ill passenger's condition.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain reported being informed by a doctor on board that the stethoscope contained in the Emergency Medical Kit was relatively useless in flight due to the ambient noise and the earpiece design of the stethoscope. This resulted in a diversion for an unconscious passenger that may not have been necessary.

Narrative: I was informed that a male Passenger had lost consciousness and that we may need to contact [Medlink] if he didn't revive quickly. I asked the Flight Attendant to prepare for [Medlink] immediately and see if there were any medical professionals onboard. I contacted [Medlink] through ARINC; but at our relatively low altitude communication was difficult. I monitored the conversation from the Flight Attendant and heard her indicate that the Physician onboard was unable to hear a pulse for the man in medical distress. At that point; believing that a Passenger might be gravely ill; I made the decision to divert. I ACARS'd Dispatch to have an ambulance waiting. Upon arrival and after speaking to the Physician who attended to the ill Passenger; she said that the type of stethoscope in our EMK (Emergency Medical Kit) did not have soft rubber ear pieces that block out ambient noise and therefore it was hard to hear the patient's pulse when taking his blood pressure because of all the ambient noise in the aircraft cabin. She suggested that we upgrade to the stethoscopes with the soft rubber ear pieces to alleviate that problem in the future. Thus; the Flight Crew thought the Passenger was possibly dying when he only had a bad case of vertigo. Replace EMK stethoscopes with the type that have soft rubber ear pieces made to block out ambient noise. This would hopefully prevent this type of misunderstanding and would also allow for a more accurate assessment of an ill Passenger's condition.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.