We’re a little behind on this one, but we’re glad we found Qantas’ ‘inflight experiences’, a video of exercises designed to keep the circulation flowing mid-flight.
Released in April this year, the video is the first of its kind for an airline and was created to help travellers prevent the quiet killer – deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
If you’re contemplating closing this story because you think you’re immune to DVTs or blood clots, think again.
People in travel should know the risks and preventions more than anyone else, if not for themselves then for the clients they assist.
According to the National Health and Medical Research Company, approximately 30,000 people are hospitalised in Australia of a thrombosis-related reason, and an estimated 2,000 die from it.
Unfortunately, flying without movement is a factor that can cause DVTs.
Airlines have tips inside their inflight magazine covering different exercises travellers can do to keep their circulation flowing.
However, Qantas is the first airline to bring those exercises to the forefront in the new four-minute exercise video.
The video, developed by Professor Kim Bennell at the University of Melbourne Department of Physiotherapy, goes through various stretches and movements every traveller should be doing on flights, particularly long-haul services.
“It came as a bit of a surprise international airlines hadn’t already introduced these exercise videos given what we know about DVT and long-haul travel. Hopefully, access to these videos will become standard on all international flights.”
