JetBlue TrueBlue - death on JetBlue plane questioned

This is pretty bad. Not really B6's fault (I don't think), but JFK management's fault. Took 23 minutes to get to someone who had a heart attack. Not good at all.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liblue0307,0,6961939.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

That's the Port Authority. I have a major bone to pick with them because it happened on one of my flights. A woman presented with all the signs of a heart attach while on final. We called ahead, declared an emergency and had priority to the gate only to find no medical personal where there to meet us. 15 minutes later a lone police officer strolls on board as if nothing is wrong and proceeds to tell us there is nothing he can do but he will call the paramedics. We then waited another 15 minutes for the EMTs to arrive. Luckly it wasn't a heart attack but if it was she may have very well died. It's as if the PA doesn't care about peoples health and well being. We gave them 11 minutes notice and it still took them 30 minutes to arrive. Totally unacceptable, I hope the family sues.

That's the Port Authority. I have a major bone to pick with them because it happened on one of my flights. A woman presented with all the signs of a heart attach while on final. We called ahead, declared an emergency and had priority to the gate only to find no medical personal where there to meet us. 15 minutes later a lone police officer strolls on board as if nothing is wrong and proceeds to tell us there is nothing he can do but he will call the paramedics. We then waited another 15 minutes for the EMTs to arrive. Luckly it wasn't a heart attack but if it was she may have very well died. It's as if the PA doesn't care about peoples health and well being. We gave them 11 minutes notice and it still took them 30 minutes to arrive. Totally unacceptable, I hope the family sues.

Jesus, that is ridiculous. I would have gone to the press anonymously about that. Definitely needs to change!

No excuse for the slow response time...

It's troubling that the story mentions the crew had problems administering the AED, and that the police were not assisting with it. I've heard that a properly used AED can really make the difference in these situations.

Of course, I don't even play a doctor on TV...

My brother-in-law had a major panic attack at LAX last fall. His symptoms were very similar to a heart attack. The med center at LAX was apparetly closed, and the medics took over 30 minuted to get there.

I think I'll put nitro in my briefcase in case this happens to me...@:-)

That's a very sad and appalling story. Talk about a complete lack of coordination and communication. I could understand if it took a few minutes to get emergency services started but 7 whole minutes? That’s horrible.

Being a medic, those AEDs are straight forward to use, that said, I don’t know how large and/or hairy the passenger is. That’s the only place where I could see them struggling to place the pads/removing hair/etc… Otherwise, it’s plug and play.

I’m very thankful that the local fire and police are very helpful with medical emergencies, most of them are even trained & certified responders. Makes me want to take some limited medical equipment with me when I travel. Very sorry for the family's loss.

I've had to deal with the PA at EWR. Those guys aren't worth the powder it would take to blow their brains out! We had a medical resident on board helping us. He tried to explain to the PA police what needed to be done to help the pax. All they wanted to do was argue with him. I finally had to get the captain to tell the PA to get off the aircraft, which they did not like. The paramedics finally showed up 20 minutes later.

I also find it troubling that the crew had difficulty with the AED. Those things walk you thru the entire process when you turn it on. Perhaps there was an issue with the AED itself?

The problem with the AED might have stemmed from the the process being changed just recently. True the AED is a "plug and play" machine but the prompts given from the AED had changed dramatically based of the recommendation from the American Heart Association. I was unaware of the AED changes until I went through recurrent. I knew the procedure for CPR had changed but not the AED itself. I'm not saying this is the issue the flight attendants where having as I wasn't there I'll have to look back at my training module to see if the AED changes where included.

I thought airports were equipped to deal with large scale accidents involving many casualties within a matter of minutes. How can they not get one ambulance to one airplane to help one person? Can't the pilot declare an emergency and get an instant response?

They can, but not apparently is you are landing at a PANYNJ airport. I had a customer that had a heart attack while enroute FLL-JFK and we diverted to MCO. First Response Medical was waiting on the jetbridge when we pulled in. They where on board and at the customers side with in minutes of our arrival.

Apparently is is the official policy of PANYNJ to send out an officer to first evaluate the situation and then decided is paramedics are needed. At least this was the case with our medical into JFK.

If somebody had a medical during the whole Feburary 14th mess i bet the customers would have been on board longer. I hope this whole PANYNJ mess gets brought to light and they are taken to town by the family of the poor customer.

Unfortunately PANYNJ likes to think it answers to no one.

The problem with the AED might have stemmed from the the process being changed just recently. True the AED is a "plug and play" machine but the prompts given from the AED had changed dramatically based of the recommendation from the American Heart Association. I was unaware of the AED changes until I went through recurrent. I knew the procedure for CPR had changed but not the AED itself. I'm not saying this is the issue the flight attendants where having as I wasn't there I'll have to look back at my training module to see if the AED changes where included.

It seems like it is JetBlue management's fault for not properly training the FAs on the equipment. Even if the machine has changed its operation, shouldn't all FAs be trained in the new procedure? I'm not saying it's a perfect argument, but an outside person would be very troubled by JetBlue's communication with staff members and overall safe management. We all saw in the snowstorm that the operation was not capable of coping with a few inches of snow and ice. It also seems like the FAs cannot competently operate a life-saving device. It does seem unreasonable to be concerned about other aspects of the company such as how well-mantained the plans are. Please don't flame me! I'm just saying what an average customer could take away from this article.

No it's not managements fault because I just looked back at my training module and the new AED procedure is listed in there. It could have been a great many factors that led to the F/As having problems with the AEDs. However that isn't the point of the story here. The AED was used on the person but it was the complete lack of compassion and proper operating procedure by PANYNJ that created this mess. Not JetBlue or anyother airline that this may or could have happened to.

No it's not managements fault because I just looked back at my training module and the new AED procedure is listed in there. It could have been a great many factors that led to the F/As having problems with the AEDs. However that isn't the point of the story here. The AED was used on the person but it was the complete lack of compassion and proper operating procedure by PANYNJ that created this mess. Not JetBlue or anyother airline that this may or could have happened to.

so what if the "new procedure" is in the manual...if the FAs aren't properly trained on the new system, then passengers are not as safe as they could be. what if this incident happened in the air? then, the individual wouldn't have had any chance at all

so what if the "new procedure" is in the manual...if the FAs aren't properly trained on the new system, then passengers are not as safe as they could be. what if this incident happened in the air? then, the individual wouldn't have had any chance at all

I think we're straying from the real issue - the time that transpired before the victim actually came into contact with trained medical professionals. Whether B6's FA's had difficulty with the AED is at issue, but not the root of what could have potentially given this poor guy better odds of survival had a timely response occured. :(

According to the policies that are set out by the FAA and the AHA, all airlines have to do is put out an email telling all crewmembers about the changes, then all F/As would be retrained hands on as they go through recurrent. It's happened at every airline when this changed occured. I only happened to know more about it because I went through recurrent after the changes suggested by the AHA. Is it a perfect system? No. Did we, as well as every other airline comply with FAA regs? Yes.

That's the Port Authority. I have a major bone to pick with them because it happened on one of my flights. A woman presented with all the signs of a heart attach while on final. We called ahead, declared an emergency and had priority to the gate only to find no medical personal where there to meet us. 15 minutes later a lone police officer strolls on board as if nothing is wrong and proceeds to tell us there is nothing he can do but he will call the paramedics. We then waited another 15 minutes for the EMTs to arrive. Luckly it wasn't a heart attack but if it was she may have very well died. It's as if the PA doesn't care about peoples health and well being. We gave them 11 minutes notice and it still took them 30 minutes to arrive. Totally unacceptable, I hope the family sues.
Based on what I read in the article after the ambulance was finally requested it arrived at the airport in just over 8 minutes, but had to wait 7 minutes for a police escort to the plane. I guess that's an FAA regulation as I had to wait for an escort to a plane at LAX while transporting a patient for a flight one time. Patient on a vent, RN and RT on board the ambulance and we had to wait for the police to look inside the ambulance, check ID's and escort us to the plane.
No excuse for the slow response time...

It's troubling that the story mentions the crew had problems administering the AED, and that the police were not assisting with it. I've heard that a properly used AED can really make the difference in these situations.

Of course, I don't even play a doctor on TV...

My brother-in-law had a major panic attack at LAX last fall. His symptoms were very similar to a heart attack. The med center at LAX was apparetly closed, and the medics took over 30 minuted to get there.

I think I'll put nitro in my briefcase in case this happens to me...@:-)
That's interesting in the LAFD has a station w/ a paramedic ambulance at the airport (the rigs are even painted yellow), and they have stations close to the airport as well.
That's a very sad and appalling story. Talk about a complete lack of coordination and communication. I could understand if it took a few minutes to get emergency services started but 7 whole minutes? That’s horrible.

Being a medic, those AEDs are straight forward to use, that said, I don’t know how large and/or hairy the passenger is. That’s the only place where I could see them struggling to place the pads/removing hair/etc… Otherwise, it’s plug and play.

I’m very thankful that the local fire and police are very helpful with medical emergencies, most of them are even trained & certified responders. Makes me want to take some limited medical equipment with me when I travel. Very sorry for the family's loss.
I carried a small amount of medical equipment on my flights last September...BP Cuff, stethoscope, pocket mask...just in case. In regard to the defibrillator...is it possible that the patient was in a condition that the defibrillator reported 'no shock advised'?
so what if the "new procedure" is in the manual...if the FAs aren't properly trained on the new system, then passengers are not as safe as they could be. what if this incident happened in the air? then, the individual wouldn't have had any chance at all
Changes happen all the time in the field of EMS, and what usually happens is memos are issued about the changes then are covered later in annual update classes we have to take. In the case of CPR then those changes are taught at CPR refresher courses.
According to the policies that are set out by the FAA and the AHA, all airlines have to do is put out an email telling all crewmembers about the changes, then all F/As would be retrained hands on as they go through recurrent. It's happened at every airline when this changed occured. I only happened to know more about it because I went through recurrent after the changes suggested by the AHA. Is it a perfect system? No. Did we, as well as every other airline comply with FAA regs? Yes. I was lucky in that I recertified my EMT just as the AHA changes were announced. In fact when the instructor put the video in he said to the class that this was the first time he was watching it as he had just got the updated information a day or two before the class.

I have a lot of issues with this entire forum on the customer that had a "heart attack". An AED can not/will not detect a heart attack. It will, however, detect a heart in difibrillation, which was the apparent case, as the AED instructed the flight attendants to shock him a total of five times.

Where is anyone getting the information that our FA's struggled with the AED? I talked to the #1FA on that flight and she told me that there was only a fireman onboard to assist. The article said the FA called the Port Authority...does that sound right to you? Where do you suppose she got the phone number from? Come on guys, use some common sense and quit getting out the three nails and the hammer each and every time sometime happens on a JB flight. Get your facts right, then have a mature discussion.

Here's what happened: During the demo, the customer slumped over in row 14 (the middle of the plane) the FA's removed him from his seat, but he was too large for them to carry him into either galley. They used the PA to call for medical assistants, notified the captain, who in turn called for the paramedics. At the same time the other FA's were getting the medical equipement out, including, oxygen, the AED, and the medical kit. As the fireman was doing the breathing, the #1Fa was doing compressions and another FA was working the AED. This was all being done in a asile that's narrow. I'm sure to the other customers, it appeared to be out of control, when in respect, the FA's did a great job.

By the time the paramedics came onboard, the customer was expediting signs that he had expired. After they removed him from the plane and the medical equipment was being replaced, they had a second medical emergency, where a 92 years old woman complained of shortness of breath. The paramedics where then called again, and after determining that her blood pressure was quiet high, she was removed from the flight. At that time JB decided to replace all FA's onboard with a new crew as the first crew had been through enough.

There have been many letters to the company, praising the actions of the crew and their efficient efforts to handle the medical's.

Please remember, we are FA'S not medical personal. We are limited by the FAA as to our actions onboard and always have MedLink, (a phone patch to a team of doctors) to advise us.

And to the women in the article who refered to us as "Stewardess"...come on guys, when do you think she flew last? 1960?

I think some of you are being unfair and need to give that crew and JB credit for a job well done.