B737-700
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 356
Time Pressure; Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Procedure
The A Flight Attendant informed me that a Passenger was boarding with an assist device that looked like a hover board with a handle attached. She was concerned that the device was prohibited. The passenger said that our operations handle it by sometimes allowing it in the cabin; and sometimes letting it go below. This time it was tagged for the cargo bin. Operations in ZZZ seemed confident that this was the right thing to do; according to the A. (I never spoke with Ops about this; nor did I talk to the passenger.) The A was very concerned that this device had a lithium battery. I did ask the First Officer (F/O) to look up this HAZMAT information in our manuals to see if we had any guidance regarding this device. We found the information that lithium batteries must remain in the cabin. But we did not know if this device had that as a power source. I also observed the ramp fumbling with the large handle on the device as they passed in front of the nose on their way to the cargo bin. They seemed unfamiliar with this type of device. My main focus during this time was determining if we needed to deice due to Cold Soak fuel frost (CSFF). It turns out that we did; the fuel uploaded did not melt the frost; and the ambient temperature was below the limits for the presence of the CSFF on the upper wing surface. The F/O and I were both consulting the manual on this. We then had to communicate with Operations our need to deice; and find out where and how this was going to happen at ZZZ. This was our main focus in getting ready for this flight. After we landed; the A informed us that the device (according to her internet research) did indeed have lithium batteries. I am concerned that a device that should have been in the cabin or not on the aircraft at all was carried in the cargo bin. I need to remember my ultimate responsibility for the safety of the flight and be willing to take a delay in order to make sure that we don't carry anything in the cargo bin that is unsafe. It would be nice to have easy access to all the information that we need to evaluate the safety of items that passengers bring onboard.
B737 Captain reported passenger no easy access information to determine procedures for Lithium powered devices.