Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Attendant Current
Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness; Workload; Time Pressure
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Human Factors
A and D flight attendant out of jumpseat during landing due to doing CPR on ill pax. Passenger was coming out of the forward restroom and had a loss of breathe. Passenger came on board with a personal oxygen container (POC). After exiting the restroom he sat on the jumpseat and complained of not being able to get a 'good' breathe. (D) was seated on the forward j/s and (A) was in the galley. I asked the passenger if he felt sick; light headed; nauseas; etc. he just said he needed a moment because he couldn't get a good breath. A Flight Attendant (FA) went and got his girlfriend at this point. As we continued to assess the situation the passenger's skin on his hands and ears began to turn blue. we immediately notified the FD; paged for medical assistance; and had the AED/EEMK delivered. We had 2 doctors; 2 emts; and a RN respond. At this point the passenger passed out. We had trouble getting any vitals on him. The FD connected us to medlink and we relayed our concerns about the passenger. We connected the passenger to the AED. He had a pacemaker which made the aed very confusing. It would call for a shock; ask to administer shock; then say no shock advised to continue CPR. The RN and doctor wanted to remove the aed but we advised it needed to stay on. The RN and doctor let us know we needed to get the passenger to the nearest hospital asap. Our crew decided to divert. We continued CPR. We had all passengers and responders seated at 10;000 feet for their safety. A and D continued CPR through landing (I doing compressions; she doing breaths). Our aircraft was met by EMTS. The passenger was pronounced dead at the hospital. Our crew did an amazing job. We exhausted every effort to save the passenger's life. The one major problem we had was the AED with a pacemaker. It will continue to register a heart rhythm; advise shock; then say to continue cpr even when a shock should be administered. I truly feel their should be some sort of override for situations such as these. Also; the FA group should be advised of the problem with the AED when a pacemaker is present. Our responders were absolutely amazing and deserve a great deal of thanks [from training].
A passenger became unconscious during flight and was assisted by physicians; a nurse and EMT personnel while the flight diverted. The passenger was declared dead at the hospital despite intense inflight professional attention.