Thank you for dying with American Airlines!
Posted on 02/24/2008 8:14:18 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
NEW YORK — An American Airlines passenger died after a flight attendant told her he couldn't give her any oxygen and then tried to help her with faulty equipment, including an empty oxygen tank, a relative said.
The airline confirmed the flight death and said medical professionals had tried to save the passenger, Carine Desir, who was returning home to Brooklyn from Haiti.
Desir, who had heart disease, died of natural causes, medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said Sunday.
Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty on the Friday flight from Port-au-Prince after she ate a meal, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother Joel Desir. A flight attendant gave her water, he said.
A few minutes later, Desir said she was having trouble breathing and asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Oliver said Sunday in a telephone interview.
After the flight attendant refused to administer oxygen to Desir, she became distressed, pleading, "Don't let me die," Oliver recalled.
Other passengers aboard Flight 896 became agitated over the situation, he said, and the flight attendant, apparently after phone consultation with the cockpit, tried to administer oxygen from a portable tank and mask, but the tank was empty.
Two doctors and two nurses were aboard and tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which also was empty, Oliver said.
Desir was put on the floor, and a nurse tried CPR, to no avail, Oliver said. A "box," possibly a defibrillator, also was applied but didn't function effectively, he said.
"I cannot believe what is happening on the plane," he said, sobbing. "She cannot get up, and nothing on the plane works."
Oliver said he then asked for the plane to "land right away so I can get her to a hospital," and the pilot agreed to divert to Miami, 45 minutes away. But during that time, Desir died, Oliver said.
"Her last words were, 'I cannot breathe,'" he said.
Desir, 44, was pronounced dead by one of the doctors, Joel Shulkin, and the flight continued to Kennedy International Airport without stopping in Miami, with the woman's body moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket, Oliver said.
American Airlines spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon wouldn't comment Sunday on Oliver's claims of faulty medical equipment. Shulkin, through his attorney, Justin Nadeau, declined to comment on the incident out of respect for Desir's family.
American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp. and based in Fort Worth, Texas, is the largest domestic airline.
I wonder what her blood sugar was?
This changes the tune, IMO. I was under the impression that O2 is standard for passangers. If there's an order that prevents distribution of that equipment to passengers, and tried but failed, then a lawsuit isn't a slam-dunk.
Oh yes, that's the standard of care that applies to airlines.
Plus, cabin personnel are trained and must be current as regards applicable standards of first aid, usually First Responder and CPR certification.
That's what liability is going to hang on. Were personnel trained and qualified, was required equipment available, working and inspected, were company procedures followed, etc.
That is a great legal question...If you get an anwser, let me know.
It sounds like NOTHING worked that should have worked.
Time will tell if these are the facts.
What’s your take on this?
(bringing in the pros...)
She should have had her own oxygen supply if it was required.
Oxygen will not stop heart failure.
Way more to this story. Like the other side.
Nah ... according to some here it shouldn’t matter ... if they’re working or not ... .
Too bad she wasn’t breathing when they upgraded her to first class.
OMG, I bet the gaggle of lawyers waiting at the gate in Brooklyn was staggering!
They can smell a lawsuit from miles away. Especially NY lawyers.
Oh yeah, they could get the blood pumping and raise the dead.
These days, sadly, most flight attendants are called "Granny."
By my recent experience, oxygen and defib might have saved her. We had a fellow worker that was talking to G-d and was brought back to life with O2 and defib...the firemen said so...his heart stopped for 6 minutes (I know it doesn’t happen, but he is still sharp as a tack!)
Thank you for dying with American Airlines!
It’s sounds like people were careless, but you think they should take down an entire airline because of it? Doesn’t that sound a little excessive?
The lawyer will decide the single digit to put on the front.
Prayers for the family.
No Cheers, unfortunately.
Well. poster 43 says.....
Aren’t those just ordinary—21 percent O2—air?
*sigh* Yeah.
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