Woman dies in Philly airport while waiting for EMS

[snoopy911]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/i-team-investigation-mother-dies-while-waiting-for-medical-treatment/

I know I have heard about this because I am local, but has anyone else heard about this? Opinions? The news stated today that there is only one ambulance stationed at the airport, and that unit is only allowed in the "secure" area of the airport. So they could not respond because the woman was on the unsecured area of the airport. What could you do in this situation?

[paramedicmike]

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/i-team-investigation-mother-dies-while-waiting-for-medical-treatment/

I know I have heard about this because I am local, but has anyone else heard about this? Opinions? The news stated today that there is only one ambulance stationed at the airport, and that unit is only allowed in the "secure" area of the airport. So they could not respond because the woman was on the unsecured area of the airport. What could you do in this situation?

And some people still want to defend PFD as a reputable Fire/EMS organization. This is not the first time this has happened to PFD. This will not be the last time it happens.

The article states the airport based ambulance was out on another assignment. What I want to know is how three additional ambulances wound up not making it. I'd also like to know if PFD really had three additional ambulances that were available.

There are some damn good medics who work for PFD. But they work for a system that is broken from its very foundation. It's a shame that this broken system cost this mother her life.

[snoopy911]

Very much agreed, Mike. The report that I heard on another news station on TV, conflicts with this article and said that the airport ALS unit was available, but could not come to that side of the airport. So I am not sure which was true. Either way, I don't think either scenario is acceptable. The system here is most definitely broken.

[HERBIE1]

I cannot speak to the specifics of Philly's system, but I can tell you how these things usually work. In order to work in an airport, there are multiple levels of ID badges mandated by the FAA. Each person gets a background check, and their information is cleared federally. For someone who works in a food service capacity in the terminal, for example, they have minimum level of access. Others are given driving privileges, while others- like police, security, fire, and EMS- are given all access badges that allow them to operate and/or drive in all secure areas. Each year, you are required to take FAA tests-the complexity of which is directly related to your job. You are required to know airport rules, locations, airport signage, lighting patterns, rules, and regulations. For those in the most sensitive/secure areas, these are 140+ question exams. Airports have always been highly secure areas, but In today's world, these security procedures are even more strict, for obvious reasons..

In an airport, there are dedicated assets(police, fire, and EMS) only for the airport itself. The airlines and FAA generally pay for the equipment, while the municipality pays the salaries of the personnel. In the case of private providers or FAA units, they would be fully funded by the government. The FAA has federal mandates that require crash rigs to be able to respond to an incident- generally an aircraft incident anywhere in the airport within a specified amount of time. Similarly, they require ALS care of some type to be available within a similar specified amount of time- whether that care be by an ambulance crew or FSR crew with ALS capabilities. If the dedicated ALS unit(s) are on a call, generally there is a protocol in place that brings off field assets onto the field to cover while the assigned units are tied up. In other words, ALS care must be available at all times.

In this case, 40 minutes is far too long to have a relief unit available. When off field companies arrive to cover the airport, some have ID badges, while most do not, but the airport has operations people who's job is to escort any off field company through the secure areas to the incident to keep them and the aircraft safe, and escort them off the field when they are finished. Clearly there was a major fail here, and more information is needed to figure out what went wrong. To me, this sounds like a major failure of the dispatch system.

[paramedicmike]

It's all the same agency. PFD has one ambulance, just one, stationed at the airport. Additional responding ambulances would be from PFD ambulances within the city itself.

It would not surprise me to be a dispatch issue. It would also not surprise me to be an airport security issue. It would also not surprise me to be a field provider issue. The story doesn't provide enough information to make a determination and speculation helps no one.

That being said, however, this (delayed response times resulting in the death of a patient) has happened to PFD several times. Way too many times for it to be just an accident.

[HERBIE1]

It's all the same agency. PFD has one ambulance, just one, stationed at the airport. Additional responding ambulances would be from PFD ambulances within the city itself.

It would not surprise me to be a dispatch issue. It would also not surprise me to be an airport security issue. It would also not surprise me to be a field provider issue. The story doesn't provide enough information to make a determination and speculation helps no one.

That being said, however, this (delayed response times resulting in the death of a patient) has happened to PFD several times. Way too many times for it to be just an accident.

Well, like nearly any urban area, call volume may have prohibited a quicker response. Inherent manpower and/or resource shortages could be another issue.Dispatch error. All of the above.

Definitely need more information here, but hopefully they won't hang the crews out to dry- and they had nothing to do with the delay.

[Richard B the EMT]

Don't really know the Philly system.

JFK, and LaGuardia Airports in New York, and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, are run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. They have Port Authority cross-trained LEOs assigned to ambulances, and these ambulances respond to most, if not all, 9-1-1 calls within the airport perimeter fences. They can, and are, backed by FDNY EMS, or NYC 9-1-1 system, ambulances at LaG or JFK. I presume they are backed by 9-1-1 system ambulances at Newark Liberty.

I was told all P.A.N.Y.N.J. P.D. officers are trained as Paramedics with New York/New Jersey dual reciprocity, as they operate on both sides of the Hudson, and the trans Hudson River crossings (Hudson and Lincoln Tunnels, George Washington Bridge, Port Authority Trans Hudson [PATH] trains).

[46Young]

Don't really know the Philly system.

JFK, and LaGuardia Airports in New York, and Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey, are run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. They have Port Authority cross-trained LEOs assigned to ambulances, and these ambulances respond to most, if not all, 9-1-1 calls within the airport perimeter fences. They can, and are, backed by FDNY EMS, or NYC 9-1-1 system, ambulances at LaG or JFK. I presume they are backed by 9-1-1 system ambulances at Newark Liberty.

I was told all P.A.N.Y.N.J. P.D. officers are trained as Paramedics with New York/New Jersey dual reciprocity, as they operate on both sides of the Hudson, and the trans Hudson River crossings (Hudson and Lincoln Tunnels, George Washington Bridge, Port Authority Trans Hudson [PATH] trains).

I had a co-worker at North Shore that worked per diem as a medic at JFK. I don't recall LaGuardia having any txp EMS of their own. On 46E and 46Y, I ran La Guardia now and again. I've also had jobs at JFK once in a blue when I worked 51V. Without any delays, I could make a bathroom near the terminal in either airport in maybe 8-10 minutes. The PA cops were always there to escort us w/o any hassle. If we had to get to someone on a plane, however, we were looking at upwards of 15 minutes from dispatch to pt contact. If things are similar in Philly, that means there was no unit put on the job for at least 20 minutes? The big shots for these EMS depts, no matter what the type, need to realize that running with the bare minimum from day to day is eventually going to lead to disaster.

[46Young]

My understanding is that the PFD has been doing rolling brownouts. Does this include ambulances? I don't know. That would help explain the extended response to the airport. Maybe this event can be used as an example to campaign for an upgrade in staffing and deployment. Also, Philly and Camden just reached an agreement that Philly will send aid in the event of a major catastrophe. Does this include ambulances? I don't know.

Edited February 20, 2011 by 46Young

[DwayneEMTP]

Did no one find this paragraph, from the article sited above, strange?

"As Smith tried to comfort and reassure Mrs. Moore, four police officers worked in “tag team,” providing CPR, and repeatedly calling on their radios for medics. At one point, Mrs. Moore gave her cell phone to the officers, asking that they call her husband Timothy."

As well as the fact that no cause of death was reported?

It would appear their airport EMS and local journalism operate at about the same level.

Dwayne