I assume the astronauts are healthy, thoroughly vetted by doctors, trained in basic medical principles, and have basic medical supplies on board.
But what happens if they get appendicitis or kidney stones or some other acute onset problem?
In: 2048
They’re quarantined before launch to weed out any infectious diseases and they’re health screened.
Of course you can never be 100% sure someone won’t have a brain aneurysm or some other bizarre health emergency. It hasn’t happened yet, but it surely will eventually.
I’m sure there are contingency plans on paper for such a thing happening, but space travel is still isolated and dangerous. Just like traveling to the south pole or the bottom of the ocean, there’s an inherent risk involved that the people are accepting when they sign up to ride a gigantic missile at 12,000 mph into a vacuum.
You are right about the vetting and medical training. And there is a flight surgeon for every expedition who monitor each crew members health. Usually the flight surgeon is located on the ground but sometimes one of the crew members is a trained medical doctor and can perform the role of flight surgeon from space. There are quite a well stacked medical cabinets on the space station with various drugs and devices that might be needed. You also have to remember that the ISS is a flying research laboratory where they often do biological and medical research. And the astronauts have a lot of first aid training, a lot of them from before even joining the astronaut corps. So the space station is far from the worst place to have a medical issue.
As for acute onset problems they will receive first aid by the other astronauts and the flight surgeon. If they find out the condition can not be treated in flight they will suit up and get into one of the return capsules and return to Earth. Not only the sick astronaut but also the other members of that return capsule. There are a number of precalculated possible landing sites all over the world. So they can pretty much return whenever they want. So there is a good chance of getting advanced first aid within the first hour and then to be at a hospital within two hours.
The health screening is extremely rigorous. They are isolated for a while before launch. They are also trained in basic medical stuff, and usually they are not alone, so another astronaut, either American or another country, will be there. Something serious could definitely happen, though.
These days, it isn’t too hard to get another rocket up there on short notice. So unless it is rapid and dire, the odds of a death are low, but definitely a non-zero chance.
Side note. You should read [an astronaut’s guide to life on earth](https://www.walmart.com/ip/An-Astronaut-s-Guide-Life-Earth-What-Going-Space-Taught-Me-Ingenuity-Determination-Being-Prepared-Anything-9780316253031-Used-Pre-owned/1354684905?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=2157&adid=22222222228000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=42423897272&wl4=pla-51320962143&wl5=9009739&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=408257971&wl11=online&wl12=1354684905_2157&veh=sem&gclid=CjwKCAjw-7OlBhB8EiwAnoOEk2dk4nOU7_FluAljJZpTwXXsR6dQyQcseMD5dvEW_Dov26m6ajnEXBoC3GsQAvD_BwE)
Screening is rigorous, but some astronauts do come down with space rashes. This is because the redistribution of blood and liquids in you body alter your immune system regulation and some latent viruses will emerge while in space. The result is a rash.
[Space Rash](https://www.sakshipost.com/news/why-astronauts-develop-skin-rashes-viral-infections-space-203584)
The only remote workers who must undergo prophylactic appendectomy are doctors who stay over winter in Antarctica. They can’t (or rather they really shouldn’t) take our their own appendix and they certainly can’t get back to civilization in time to treat appendicitis. An astronaut can.
Other good answers already, but FWIW a lot of NASA docs are emergency medicine physicians. They would be the best person to have on hand in case of a sudden space medical emergency. It is also another reason I’ll be applying for emergency medicine residency next year.
Part of the point of the ISS is “What happens to the human body in prolonged microgravity”. They’re trying to see what happens to the human body on the timescales of longer trips in the relative safety of low earth orbit.
Ways to avoid conditions will be food supplements, exercise and picking the right people.
One of the original astronauts scheduled for Apollo 13 was grounded because he’d been exposed to measles.
A astronaut on the ISS had DVT. It happens, you probably just don’t hear about it because health information is a private thing.
There’s also a flight control position that is essentially dedicated astronaut nurses and doctors.
There is no such thing as an absolute insurance that someone who goes into space won’t get sick. They take steps to reduce risk and if a medical emergency occurs that can’t be resolved in space, then they simply bring the astronaut back to Earth. Time in space is tracked. Space is not hospitable to the human body. For example, after a lengthy exposure to zero gravity bone structure alters. Over exposure can have long-term health effects.
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