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
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.
Latest Answers