AA Medical Equipment Fails On Flight, Woman Dies

[Matt Molnar]

A woman on an American Airlines flight from Haiti to JFK died on board Friday after she complained of shortness of breath—and two oxygen tanks and a defibrillator used to assist the woman proved faulty, according to a cousin of the woman. The flight diverted to Miami, but it was too late—Carine Desir was pronounced dead in her seat at MIA.

:arrow: Woman Dies On NY-Bound American Airlines Flight (http://www.wnbc.com/news/15399071/detail.html?treets=ny&tid=2659648725813&tml=ny_12pm&tmi=ny_12pm_1_11000302252008&ts=H) [AP, via WNBC.com]

[mirrodie]

It will be interesting to see who is at fault.

AFAIK, the AED's info can be downloaded but if its faulty from the start, I'm wondering what useful info, if any was recorded.

[flyboy 28]

I would think it's the airline's responsibility to make sure every part of the airplane is in working order. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Matt Molnar]

AA is disputing the cousin's account, saying the equipment did work, and there were 12 oxygen canisters on board. It should be noted that an automatic defibrillator works only if it detects a heartbeat, so if she were already dead when they attempted to use it, it certainly would not have done anything. Also, the woman had a history of heart disease.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... caba4.html (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/022508dnnatflightdeath.2fcaba4.html)

According to a JetBlue flight attendant friend of mine, people die pretty frequently on those NYC-Caribbean flights...sick people on their way here for medical treatment, and dying people who live here on their way to live out the rest of their days in their homeland.

[NYCMedic]

It is correct that the AED will only advise a shock if there is 1 of 2 heart rythyms present. neither one of these rythyms delivers blood to the body. parts of the heart are just beating erratically. From personal experience working as a Paramedic at JFK for 3 yrs I can say that quite a few people came in from Haiti already in Rigor Mortis (stiff as a board), freshly deceased, or hanging on by a thread. The Medical Examiner once told me that a lot of the families wanted their loved ones buried in NY. There has been speculation that people were put on A/C already dead. I guess someone in Port Au Prince was paid off. Supposedly the carriers refund the ticket cost and pay a small bereavment to avoid going to court.

[emshighway]

As NYCMedic stated the AED will only shock on on certain rhythms not really a heartbeat. You don't actually need O2 to resuscitate someone, but it does help oxygenate the blood better.

By the way many doctors and nurses are not trained on AEDs so they may have made a comment which was confused by a family member as the equipment not working.

[stuart schechter]

Wow, just wow. Many things can be misinterpreted in a time of hysteria. And I just realized that NYCA has a lot of medical professionals. NYCmedic, emshighway, myself.

[nwafan20]

Yeah, I think this story is one sided. We need to hear the whole story before making a decision.

[cancidas]

i don't buy the story. the woman had heart disease and diabetes to begin with.

[PhilDernerJr]

I've seen people on my own airline's flight where they are either returning to their homeland to live out their days, or coming here to seek treatment, as earlier said. In fact, it's common to see Port ambulances meeting Caribbean aircraft at T4.

[NYCMedic]

As NYCMedic stated the AED will only shock on on certain rhythms not really a heartbeat. You don't actually need O2 to resuscitate someone, but it does help oxygenate the blood better.

By the way many doctors and nurses are not trained on AEDs so they may have made a comment which was confused by a family member as the equipment not working.

Highway, You would be surprised at how many Cardiologists and nurses from the CCU I've failed during ACLS testing!.... Well You were on the job a while, so I'm sure you know the level of incompetence many of these licensed "professionals" work at!

BTW: for everyone else ACLS=Advanced Cardiac Life Support
CCU= Cardiac or Coronary Care Unit

[emshighway]

As NYCMedic stated the AED will only shock on on certain rhythms not really a heartbeat. You don't actually need O2 to resuscitate someone, but it does help oxygenate the blood better.

By the way many doctors and nurses are not trained on AEDs so they may have made a comment which was confused by a family member as the equipment not working.

Highway, You would be surprised at how many Cardiologists and nurses from the CCU I've failed during ACLS testing!.... Well You were on the job a while, so I'm sure you know the level of incompetence many of these licensed "professionals" work at!

BTW: for everyone else ACLS=Advanced Cardiac Life Support
CCU= Cardiac or Coronary Care Unit

I won't be surprised, been there, done that, got the shirt for it. I smacked an ER doc in the back of the head for trying to take a scissor to a set of MAST pants (for the un-informed, inflatable pants used to move blood to the core of the body). I've also seen a doc pull the pin on a traction unit rapidly releasing the tension causing the already fractured femur to fly through the thigh. Even the dead in the morgue heard that scream.