Am I safe to fly? Am I safe to anaesthetise?

On a recent trip I arrived at to Mexico City airport for an overnight flight back to London at 9 40 pm to find the flight postponed to 6 am the next day. The reason was that the flight crew's hotel had caught fire and the crew had had to go to hospital, disrupting their rest pattern, and so they needed to sleep. Like the other 351 passengers I was disappointed. Just before this trip I had worked several days and nights on call for a busy intensive care unit, and I was looking forward to recovering after my trip and then having a normal Sunday at home before my week back at work as an intensive care doctor and anaesthetist began. I realised that if the crew members were tired and made a mistake I might never get home again, so I accepted the hotel voucher, had dinner, and went to my room. During the flight the captain took time to speak with me and we were able to discuss the …