PSA: S/O Unaccompanied minors traveling who need to take medicine

[Lanny]

There are occasional threads on WTM about minors traveling alone.  I do not recall ever seeing one that mentioned a child who needed to take medicine. The below was in an email I received last night from Avianca, the largest Colombian airline.  I found the last part, about medicines, extremely interesting.  I suspect other airlines have the same policy regarding medicines.

 

 

 

Is your child going to travel without you? Ask for the Unaccompanied Minors service, that allows children aged between 5 and 17 to travel safely, in the absence of their parents / guardians, to domestic and international destinations for an additional charge. So don’t worry, we ensure that he/she is in good hands throughout the journey, assisting them constantly during the flight and supervising them until handed over to the responsible designated party at the destination airport.

Please note the following conditions to ensure excellence in providing this service:

• The service is mandatory for unaccompanied minors between 5 and 12 years.
• The service is optional for minors from 13 to 17 years.
• It is suggested that the service be requested when making the reservation, as there is limited availability per aircraft.
• It does not include medical care and no airline employee is authorized to supply medicines to minors.

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm not surprised that they aren't allowed to give medicines.  I would think that they are scared of being liable if something were to go wrong in some way. 

[regentrude]

Makes sense to me that airline employees are not allowed to dispense medicine. Huge liability issues.

 

As a parent, I cannot imagine relying on flight attendants (who are juggling a lot more duties than caring for my child) to give my kid medications on schedule if the child needed medical care. Especially not with multiple different people at multiple locations being involved in guiding the child to her destination. 

 

ETA: In school, not even the child's teacher would be allowed to give medication.

Edited June 24, 2016 by regentrude

[TechWife]

I'd never expect an airline to give medications. That's crazy talk. If you have a child that can't self administer needed medications, that child does not need to be traveling alone, period. 

[JFSinIL]

I'd never expect an airline to give medications. That's crazy talk. If you have a child that can't self administer needed medications, that child does not need to be traveling alone, period.

I so agree. If a child can not self-administer meds, the child can not travel alone. They might not need to take meds during the flight if the timing is right - but what if there is a delay?