US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - There was a organ donor heart on my flight...

I was flying from BOS-PHL at about 11:30am Sunday. We departed almost 10 minutes early and arrived at the PHL gate about 20 minutes early. Takeoff and landing were very quick.

As I was deplaning I heard some conversation about a donor heart being on board. So I thought it was great they were speeding things up to get the heart where it needed to go.

I had an hour to kill and was curious as to what they were going to do with this cardboard box with an orange neon "LIVE ORGAN TISSUE" or something like that on one side...so I watched...and was a bit surprised.

First, I saw the box sitting at the gate checkin at C21 with the ORGAN DONOR label facing out so that anyone that might come up to the counter would clearly see the boxed heart sitting there.

The gate agent didn't seem enitrely certain what to do. After about 5 minutes he called for an electric cart. While he was waiting, the gate agent used the box as an armrest of sorts. He eventually turned the label sideways so that it wasn't so prominent at the counter.

Two or three carts declined the offer to transport the box, at least one of which was headed in the opposite direction. Finally one cart reluctantly took the hot potato, placing the box next to her on the front seat. Again, the box was used as an arm rest. They realized that there was paperwork to sign and the gate agent signed it.

Now the cart is moving from C21 toward the main concourse area. The cart stops to pick up a few elderly people to join the box on the trip. I followed the cart until somewhere near the food court and then gave up.

I have no idea if that heart was destined from PHL or another connecting destination. The care it received on board seemed reasonable but I was very disturbed by the handling on the ground.

Curious about opinions on this or any other experiences. I would think they would have special arrangements to move an organ through an airport and not move it haphazardly through the terminal.

Daniel

I'm really amazed and rather upset at the treatment on the ground. Don't people have any respect?

An armrest? These people should be ashamed of themselves! And I'm shocked that there wasn't more of a sense of urgency...

The Good News: We found an organ donor match for your heart transplant.

The Bad News: It has to go thru PHL to get here.

Are you SURE that it was intended for a transplant, and not the latest experimental IFC meal choice? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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Has YOUR airline won an award lately?

Interesting. Almost every time I've seen organs in transit, they are accompanied onto the plane itself by a courier and met immediately at their destination by a courier, and only really left in the custody of the airline for the duration of the flight.

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Don't feed the trolls.

Based on the way they were handling it, I got the impression it was destined for a connecting flight.

The cart stopped to pick up some people and appeared to be headed for Terminal B. There was definitely nobody accompanying the heart, it was literally passed on to the gate agent who appeared quite confused as to how to handle the situation.

Well at least I didn't see them drop the box...and I'm sure it was well packed, but still... I wouldn't want to send organs that way...

It might be worth writing a letter to Consumer Affairs, or writing a paper letter to the PHL station manager. If you feel strongly about it, you could also contact PHL media, I'm sure they could have fun with it just like they do about the obviouss breaches in airport security that still exist all over the country. E.g. easy to gain access to unauthorized areas, people still able to easily carry box cutters on planes, etc. I would not be surprised if that last report of box cutters where they said it was left by the cleaners was a cover up. After all, how is the ordinary person going to know if the "left by the cleaners" if fact or fiction. The airlines and the government have an interest in covering things like that up, because any hint of continued attempted terrorism will freak out the public who is already nervous to fly. I have heard that some airline employees even hope if there is another terrorism related crash that the government will cover it up, because if they don't, people really won't fly and many airline employees will continue to lose their jobs and a couple of airlines could easily go belly up. Just think about how easy it would be to cover up the cause of a plane crash...after all how would you know? Also look at how the TSA tries to deflect attention away from itself by pressing on with criminal charges against that college student who brought the box cutters on board. I know PHL has a bad wrap, so perhaps the 2nd class treatment of the heart is in line with that. The worst PHL experience I personally have had was when I tried to get on an earlier connecting flight and the gate agent was very abrupt but she did put me on the flight. Another time though PHL accepted an expired upgrade when a Canadian station would not. Oh yes, and I had an experience where PHL made me wait at the ticket counter for an hour to change a ticket while they absolutely made sure I paid my change fee.

I'm not interested in dragging US through the mud - they're perfectly capable of doing that on their own.

I'm just concerned about their procedures and sense of urgency.

Will my letter get the same attention if I write it from my DM CP account communication or do you suggest I write and mail it. Maybe I should send it to the Director of Consumer Affairs? Any suggestions leave here or PM me.

Send it to Deborah Thompson...maybe she'll write a canned reply in next month's "Your Fault" column in Attache.

I'm surprised; these are usually flown via private plane. I think it is a rarity.

Thank goodness it wasn't checked baggage!

and wasn't going thru PHL as checked...

Last year a member of my family received a heart. From what I understand, there is a time frame in which the donor organ is removed and transplanted. I also, know a good friend who works for the NE Organ Bank - they fly mostly via helicopters or private plane - as the time the organ is out of the body needs to be minimized - especially for hearts.

BTW - our family member just had their 1 year anniversary and is doing well.

cejkwj

I have doubts that it was a heart for human use. Maybe it was a research heart for a research lab or corneas for transplant (which can sit around longer). Maybe it was even a kidney. I doubt it was a liver or heart.

While in college I worked as a SAR (special assistance rep) at PHL. Cart driving was one of the duties of the job and I chauffeured many hearts, eyes and other organs thru the airport. Although sometimes on connecting flights, they were usually destined for PHL which made sense considering the large number of prominent hospitals in the city. These parcels, when not accompanied by medical personnel, are conveyed to the PDQ office in the baggage claim area where they are refrigerated (if necessary) and held for pick-up by a courier.

I have seen plenty of instances where the organs are being transported by medical personnel from origin to destination, however there are cases where it was left up to the airline. I was told these are for research use, or if intended for transplant then they are packaged and shipped in a way that is medically suitable.

For the record, it is not only US that handles these shipments in this manner. I've seen other carriers act/react in the same way. To be honest I think the perceived non-chalance of the staff has a lot to do with their feeling of awkwardness of handling a big box labelled "HUMAN HEART" or "HUMAN EYES." And btw, those boxes are VERY heavy!

Pilots love having the shipments on board (in the cockpit) as it makes theirs a designated "life flight" which allows priority take off and landing.

There was a recent donor organ box on a flight. We were delayed due an incident at DCA but were the first off and one of the first to land because of the donated organ just as PHLFlyer stated because we became a "life flight".

The actual term for these flights is "lifeguard", and you do get priority clearance on them. I've never carried a heart, as people have said already, those are usually fairly time sensitive and carried by private transportation. We usually carry eyes and tissue.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GalleyWench:
The actual term for these flights is "lifeguard", and you do get priority clearance on them. I've never carried a heart, as people have said already, those are usually fairly time sensitive and carried by private transportation. We usually carry eyes and tissue.</font>

Yes, and a lifeguard flight gets priority handling by ATC as well; the radio call sign for a flight with organs for transplant aboard would be "lifeguard USAir 123". Only Air Force One and Two or a plae that has declared an emergency get higher priority treatment from ATC. And in the case mentioned, it was probably an organ destined for transplant, as a research organ would be shipped freight, not carried in the cabin. I bet the heartless bean counters in Crystal City charge a fortune for the special handling of transplant organs.

So do these lifeguard flights file some special note in the paperwork for the ATC PDC, or do they just give Lifeguard when talking to clearance delivery in order to get the priority? I have listened to ATC quite a bit and have not heard the Lifeguard call sign designation before though perhaps it is not that commonplace to happen frequently.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GalleyWench:
The actual term for these flights is "lifeguard", and you do get priority clearance on them. .</font>
Now, if they would only flag lifeguard flights in Galileo for our bookings!

ATC is given notice if the flight is a lifeguard flight, and it is on all of the airplane's paperwork (pilots and f/a's). The airlines used to transport organs free of charge, but I'm not sure what the procedure is now. I'll look into it and see what I can find out.
The organs are always stored in the passenger cabin, never in the cockpit. The primary storage is the valet closet or a forward overhead bin. If it's too large to fit in those areas, it is considered in-seat baggage and placed in a window seat. If the flight is full, they can bump a passenger in order to accomodate the shipment. If it's too large to fit in any of the above areas, it is placed in the cargo bin. I've never had anything that wouldn't fit in the valet closet. I've been flying transatlantic the last couple of years so I haven't seen any organ transports, but will be returning to domestic in January so I'm sure they'll pop up there.
From what I remember there was always a courier meeting the flight to sign for the organs, but I haven't encountered this since 9/11 so don't know if that procedure has changed as well. From the sounds of this incident in PHL there must be some new changes that I'm not aware of.

Hi folks. I am a USAirways employee who usually lurks on these boards to see what the people who matter think of the job we are doing. This posting prompted me to register and log in. USAirways (and every other commercial air carrier) carry organs, tissue, eyes, blood etc on hundreds of flights a day. I have personally been involved in every aspect of this process and I can assure you that US takes their responsibility seriously.
When a lifeguard shipment is checked in “Lifeguard Alert” messages are sent to every station involved. If the package is small, like the one in this post, it is carried by a Customer Service Agent and given to the Lead Flight Attendant with instructions for its disposition. Upon arrival an agent is usually specially detailed to transport it to the US PDQ office or ticket counter depending on the city. If the package is large enough to be loaded in the cargo bin the Lead Agent for the flight and any connecting flights is notified. Flights are held if necessary for connecting lifeguard shipments and these parcels are required to be listed in the baggage remarks for the flight. Heart valves, hearts and other large organs are shipped in large, blue, high impact climate controlled containers we call “mushroom containers” because of their shape. Also these shipments are carried free of charge and always have been.
The situation you described was certainly not handled as well as it could have been. The box could have been kept out of public sight and certainly not leaned on, but this package, I can say with assurance, was transported in a safe timely manner. Also the Assistance Carts that passed the gate were probably not assigned to transport this package. The USAirways employees I know are conscientious and handle dozens of these packages a day with great care. The fact that there is a forum like this tells me that there are people to whom US is important too. Thanks for your time.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by formerPI:
Hi folks. I am a USAirways employee who usually lurks on these boards to see what the people who matter think of the job we are doing. This posting prompted me to register and log in. USAirways (and every other commercial air carrier) carry organs, tissue, eyes, blood etc on hundreds of flights a day. I have personally been involved in every aspect of this process and I can assure you that US takes their responsibility seriously.
When a lifeguard shipment is checked in “Lifeguard Alert” messages are sent to every station involved. If the package is small, like the one in this post, it is carried by a Customer Service Agent and given to the Lead Flight Attendant with instructions for its disposition. Upon arrival an agent is usually specially detailed to transport it to the US PDQ office or ticket counter depending on the city. If the package is large enough to be loaded in the cargo bin the Lead Agent for the flight and any connecting flights is notified. Flights are held if necessary for connecting lifeguard shipments and these parcels are required to be listed in the baggage remarks for the flight. Heart valves, hearts and other large organs are shipped in large, blue, high impact climate controlled containers we call “mushroom containers” because of their shape. Also these shipments are carried free of charge and always have been.
The situation you described was certainly not handled as well as it could have been. The box could have been kept out of public sight and certainly not leaned on, but this package, I can say with assurance, was transported in a safe timely manner. Also the Assistance Carts that passed the gate were probably not assigned to transport this package. The USAirways employees I know are conscientious and handle dozens of these packages a day with great care. The fact that there is a forum like this tells me that there are people to whom US is important too. Thanks for your time. </font>

I'm glad to hear that these vital shipments are carried for free, and sorry for my snide remark above about the bean counters in Crystal City.

Wow, as the OP I have learned a lot from this thread. Thank you to the US Airways employee and former intern for shedding some light on how this works.

Perhaps the shipment was indeed NOT a heart as it was in a cardboard shipping box that was not very large. It had a fluorescent orange sticker on one side with black letters in bold 'LIVE ORGAN DONOR TISSUE' (I may have some of the wording incorrect). When the gate agent placed the box on the electric cart, he returned to sign a duplicate form attached to the package and I think he may have kept a copy.

I will attest to the fact that the gate agent literally made an open page "ELECTRIC CART TO C21" and as usual several carts just passed by and it was my impression the agent was trying to get the attention of any driver and it appeared as if several declined.

The driver that did take the package also picked up several passengers after picking up the package. The package was next to her on the cart and the pax were in the 2nd row. I followed to the B-C shopping area and then let it go at that point.

I did get the impression that the package was handled with urgency on the flight. From a distant perspective the gate agent did appear to be confused as to how to get the package to where it needed to go. Perhaps somebody was supposed to meet the flight to handle it and the gate agent wasn't prepared or didn't know who to contact.

If the employee that posted here has the ability to track this, I'd be happy to provide the flight details....

&gt;" the gate agent literally made an open page "ELECTRIC CART TO C21" and as usual several carts just passed by..."

I can attest that one time a cart passed me by with the driver commenting she had to pick up corneas. Indeed, she passed me returning with an organ box at her side.

Jane in PHL