Interesting. So what happens when they need to run a bag of fluid? Standard IV bags are usually either 500 or 1000 ml (16.9ish to 22.8ish fl oz).

Yeah, it's a real pain to do a rapid infusion of a liter of saline using TEN 100 mL vials from a plastic bag :) Maybe we can work around it by having the TSA wave magic test strips over the IV bags.

On the other hand, we now have free portable x-ray from the backscatter machines.

LMAO!

Yes they all have(CRF) Crash Fire Rescue. That refers to getting people out of the plane, foaming the plane and runway and rescuing people from the smoke or fire on the plane. EMS is not mandated, but many CRF people are cross trained as First Responders or EMT's. Only at the larger airports do they pay for the extra training to be a Paramedic. It probably costs the airport $10,000-15,000 more for the Paramedic training (2 years of schooling) and a extra $1,000 a year for continuning medical education per person. If they have high turnover that can get pretty expensive for the Airport.

Yes that is a good one. ^

EWR-LGA-JFK paramedics
 

EWR-paramedics are on site from Newark's University Hospital.
JFK-ambulance is staffed by Port Authority PD police officer EMTs, paramedics come from Kennedy Medical Clinic.
LGA-ambulance from New York Hospital-Queens. Not sure if EMT or paramedic, but I would bet paramedic because of New York State Department of Health public event medical staffing requirements.

What's odd is that all three airports are covered by PAPD for policing and crash-rescue, yet they only provide EMS at one of the three. Many, many PAPD police officers have previous EMS experience (probably between 1/3-1/2 of the force were/are EMTs or paramedics.)

Scot

Not any more. "Crash Fire Rescue" (CRF) was dumped many years ago in favor of "Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting" (ARFF). Purely semantics, though - it was to eliminate the word "crash."

Hope this isn't too pedantic (is that even possible on FT?) but you didn't make that decision. You provided advice in the form of an opinion to the captain, who made the decision.

No you are correct, the pilot makes the choice. He may even have wanted the information to check with the Ground Medical for their opinion. ^

FYI for the public’s information from an available online SOP supposedly from a certain gumment agency, nothing in the redacted zone, I have no idea if this is real or an internet fabrication ;), bolding mine:

"T*A SCREENING MANAGEMENT SOP

4.3.8. EMERGENCY PERSONNEL

If emergency personnel (for example, law enforcement, fire, medical) approach a TSO, the TSO must notify the STSO. The STSO must permit emergency personnel responding to an emergency and their equipment into the sterile area without screening.

Emergency personnel must be accompanied into the sterile area by a sufficient number of escorts to preclude the transfer of a weapon between emergency personnel and other individuals in the sterile area. The escorts may be representatives of the airport or aircraft operator or individuals who are authorized unescorted access to the airport’s secured areas."

Okay, so we have some evidence that the TSA would not interrupt emergency personnel in the event of an emergency.

But the rule still stands for US carriers operating international flights to the United States. It sounds like the staff at Narita were following a rule that pre-dated the TSA: anyone with access to a US-operated plane must be searched.

The same rule (theoretically) applies to contract airline staff who are permitted access to a US-operated plane destined for Israel. If you watch at the gate, contract catering and support staff are frisked or wanded if they need to set foot on a Tel Aviv-bound flight.

I should add that these friskings or wandings are usually very, very brief and ceremonial. It's questionable if this serves any purpose at all, but it certainly would defy common sense in the setting of a life-threatening emergency.

&


The only problem is it has never happened that way...Again theory ("policy") and reality are 180 degrees off. When I've responded to the airport; TSA has been more of a hindernce that required LE involvement to get TSA removed so we could work and help the patient.

That is an incorrect statement. If you can provide a citation, that'd be great. (This would be safer for you to do than for me to disclose how it's not.)

Large(r)airports have exactly a procedure in place for this.

Tehiota,

I should correct my statement.

Based on my observation in nine countries, non-crew who need to gain access to an aircraft operated by a US carrier have to be frisked or wanded.

There is usually contract agent standing at the entrance to the aircraft with a wand or to do the frisking.

I assumed that this was a TSA regulation (and it predates September 11th, so it was probably an FAA regulation before then.) I can't imagine that they would require this procedure without a US mandate.

It's possible that this only applies at "Category X" ("extraordinary risk") airports. Flights from Canada, Bermuda, etc. may be exempt.

You're right, I've never seen a document stating that this is the rule, but I've also haven't searched for one.