Flight Attendant Current
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Aircraft; Human Factors
Shortly before our final descent into ZZZ several flight attendants began experiencing various symptoms ranging from dizziness to nausea. Approximately 3-5 minutes later the Captain called to ask if we had noticed a rapid descent. We confirmed that we had noticed a change in cabin pressure because our ears had popped. The Captain said we had just experienced a depressurization but the cabin altitude never got high enough for the masks to drop and they decided not to deploy them manually or make a public address to inform the passengers what was going on. In this the Captain assumed we were fine because we had not figured out we were experiencing hypoxia.Several minutes later all 7 crewmembers were experiencing various symptoms of hypoxia. Taking all of this into account I decided it would be advisable to administer oxygen. Flight Attendant 5 contacted the flight deck to advise them that we had used an O2 bottle and get clarification on what was going on. The Captain took the initiative to contact paramedics to meet us at the gate. It was also in that moment that the Captain told us we 'shouldn't be experiencing these symptoms;' giving us the impression that he was negating our symptoms.Upon our arrival into ZZZ we discovered further miscommunication occurred when the paramedics gave us the impression they were told to expect many passengers being ill and that we had experienced a rapid decompression. The Captain then pulled all of us aside for a discussion of what had happened. He then explained that an air conditioning pack had overheated and went inoperative. He said that the remaining air conditioning pack was failing to keep the cabin pressure pressurized and that they were alerted to don O2 masks when the cabin pressure reached 10;000 feet. He said the cabin pressure never got above 12;000 feet and that's why the masks never dropped. He then told us the event was called a 'controlled loss of cabin pressure'. An abrupt departure from his earlier term of 'depressurization.'4 of the 7 crew members chose to be evaluated by paramedics and declined transport to a hospital. The concern of the entire cabin crew was that the flight deck failed to inform us of what was going on when it was occurring and chose to wait until several minutes after the fact to let us know what happened. Our concern lies in the fact that in failing to inform us of what was happening we were not given the opportunity to take appropriate measures; such as being seated or donning oxygen as a precautionary measure. Additionally; the crew is concerned that in reporting our symptoms; the Captain's words and actions invalidated our concerns by telling us 'that shouldn't be happening'. Additionally; the crew is concerned that this is the 3rd reported cabin pressure issue with this particular tail number [in four months] and that this tail is still in service. We cannot perform our functions as safety professionals if we are not properly communicated with by the flight crew and are allowed to work on an aircraft that has known pressurization issues.
Flight Attendant reported lack of oxygen and a feeling of hypoxia and that the pilot advised that they; 'shouldn't be experiencing these symptoms.'