Internal TSA memo warns Good Samaritans: “We cannot allow a distraction”

by Christopher Elliott on March 10, 2010


If you’re unlucky enough to have a medical emergency on a plane, your flight attendants are trained to help. Same thing goes for other public places, like restaurants and schools. But an internal memo circulated to employees at one airport suggests the TSA would rather you take your heart attack elsewhere.

While most of the document is reasonable, part of it raises serious questions about the TSA’s mission and its place in an overall airport operation.

Here it is, in its entirety:

All TSA employees:

Below is the guidance from OSHE on the specifics of a TSA employee offering First Aid/CPR/AED. This excerpt is from the Occupational Safety and Health Manual.

The importance of this guidance is for TSA employees protection. First and foremost as TSA officers we are not first responders to an emergency and we cannot allow a distraction during our critical mission.

In the event that first responders are needed please announce or call 9-1-1 immediately. It’s essential that you realize that providing emergency care as a Good Samaritan, is working outside of your job description and you are not covered for medical or time loss through the Occupational Workers’ Compensation Program.

Below is the guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Manual which is provided by OSHE mandated local compliance:

12.1 First Aid/CPR/AED

a. In a medical emergency, TSA employees shall be aware of and know how to activate the local and/or airport emergency medical services response system.

b. TSA employees may voluntarily enroll in local first aid, CPR, and AED training programs. The training must be on their own time and at their own expense regardless of who offers the training.

c. TSA employees trained and certified in first aid or CPR/AED, may provide emergency care as a Good Samaritan only when excused from security duties by their supervisor or manager.

d. At a minimum, TSA employees performing as a Good Samaritan should consider the use of “body substance isolation” techniques―protective gloves, pocket mask, or other recognized physical barriers designed for rescue breathing. Protective equipment, such as gloves and pocket mask, are the responsibility of the Good Samaritan.

I’ve asked TSA to comment on this memo, which appears to have been sent out to officers at one airport yesterday.

But if this is an agency-wide notice, then it does beg a few questions:

Why aren’t TSA employees given basic first-aid training? Why do TSA employees have to ask for permission from a supervisor before helping someone who is having a medical emergency? (What if it’s their supervisor who is having the emergency?) And why not cover a TSA employee for medical or time loss when they’re helping a passenger or co-worker in need?

I understand that TSA employees have a primary mission. But it is not their only mission. Just as flight attendants, restaurant servers and educators are trained to perform first-aid functions and encouraged to help during an emergency, TSA employees should also be trained and encouraged to assist a passenger in need.

Update (Feb. 26):

A TSA spokeswoman has responded to my questions.

Why aren’t TSA employees given basic first-aid training?

TSA’s mission is to ensure the security of the traveling public by preventing terrorist threats from entering the transportation system. Many TSA employees are able to administer emergency aid because they are independently trained, perform volunteer work in the emergency medical field, or had previous careers in the emergency medical field. TSA recognizes the value of having employees who are trained and certified as EMTs or first responders should an employee or member of the general public have a medical emergency. TSA has issued direction that allows employees to act as Good Samaritans.

TSA employees have responded to incidents of medical distress and TSA recognizes their quick response, skills, and dedication to helping others during these critical times of need.

Why do TSA employees have to ask for permission from a supervisor before helping someone who is having a medical emergency?

When responding to a medical emergency while on duty, TSA officers are to inform their supervisors nearby, in order to quickly adjust staff and ensure a security vulnerability is not created. Often, supervisors are aware of which members on their team are trained to respond to medical emergencies and support their workforces when a crisis situation occurs.

Why not cover a TSA employee for medical or time loss when they’re helping a passenger or co-worker in need?

TSA employees can file worker’s compensation claims if desired after responding to a medical emergency. Any claim will go through the standard adjudication process.

(Photo: anendel/Flickr Creative Commons)

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Tagged as: FIRST AID, security, training, TSA

  • Hapgood

    For once I don’t find anything particularly unreasonable in the TSA policy. All it really seems to be saying is that if a highly-trained professional screener chooses to help someone in the vicinity who appears in medical distress, he or she needs to clear it with a supervisor. Checkpoints are busy places that need every screener working at full capacity to handle the crowds. So as the spokesperson notes, the supervisor needs to approve it to make sure that screening can continue to proceed smoothly.

    The problem appears to be the usual TSA bugaboo of flawed implementation. The language of the memo seems to implicitly discourage TSA employees from offering assistance in medical emergencies. The TSA clearly isn’t interested in having employees trained in first aid; if they choose to get that training it has to be on their own time. The requirement to get approval from a supervisor may in practice make rendering assistance impossible if the supervisor is occupied elsewhere. And if rendering assistance carries the risk of lost time or income, that’s definitely a disincentive to help.

    The official position of TSA leadership seems to be that if an employee sees a medical problem, he should call 911 and wait for someone else to handle it. Then, as quickly as possible, get back to the far more important task of bellowing orders at “enemy” passengers and confiscating oversized toothpaste tubes.

    While there is a certain logic here, it certainly doesn’t help the TSA’s battered public image. It sends the message that the TSA’s only purpose is to follow the script of the Security Theater production. Anything unrelated to the narrowly-defined Mission of protecting aviation from terrorism and shampoo bottles– including theft of property caused or encouraged by screening procedures, or medical emergencies perhaps exacerbated by the stress of screening hassles– is irrelevant.

    And I’m sure the TSA’s main concern here is that internal documents need better protection from disclosure to the public, so needless public relations difficulties can be avoided.

  • Frank

    The TSA clearly isn’t interested in having employees trained in first aid; if they choose to get that training it has to be on their own time. The requirement to get approval from a supervisor may in practice make rendering assistance impossible if the supervisor is occupied elsewhere

    @ Hapgood:

    I’m sure what the TSA is NOT interested in is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in training costs. And, to stay current, one must train annually. That’s NOT they’re job function. Screening is.

    Several years ago, I witnessed a passenger have an emergency situation right in front of security:

    I landed in Fort Lauderdale this week. I strolled off the plane and headed for the pick up area for the hotel van service. I was looking forward to my long layover in warmer weather. As I passed the security area I briefly stopped to let an elderly lady pass me. I watched her get on the escalator. I proceeded to the front of the airport. However something caught my eye. The old lady lost her balance on the escalator and she began SOMERSAULTING down the entire length. I stopped. I watched as her head fall forward, then her legs came up in the air. I let go of my rollaboard and RAN TO THE ESCALATOR and dove for the emergency “OFF” button. Thank god, it stopped. I got up and looked down to see her condition. She was face down. A man in front of her was checking her. I stood up and noticed I was near the security area. TSA agents would help. I SHOUTED: WE NEED HELP! CALL PARAMEDICS!. WE NEED HELP! CALL 911. Everyone froze. I kept SHOUTING my need for assistance. Why werent they coming over? Finally a TSA agent came running and looked down the escalator and said, “Oh my god”. I kept waiting and watching and SHOUTING for help. A lady waiting for someone coming off a flight was on her cellphone calling 911. She approached me and said she called. She asked me to watch her belongings. She wanted to go help the lady. I said, thanks, but she has someone with her. A policeman finally arrives. A crowd had gathered on the second floor, looking down on the escalator. I walk over to the balcony and look down. The police officier attempts to get her to sit up. I SHOUT DOWN TO HIM…….PARAMEDICS ARE ON THE WAY. THEY SAID, DONT MOVE HER………………..STOP MOVING HER, SHE’S INJURED. He looks up at me and says, “thanks for your insight”..(sarcastically)…….but LIFTS HER UP. She buries her face in her lap. She is obviously dazed and HURT. I turn away and look at my crew. All watching. We finally head to the front of the airport where our van is waiting.
    I keep wondering how she is. I asked as I went through security today. They heard about the incident, but NO ONE could tell me how she was.
    ——————————————————————————

    I understand now, why the hesitation to give assistance. =)

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  • MidMom8949

    Unless it is specifically the TSA agent’s job to provide emergency care, there is no earthly reason to train them in first aid or emergency care.

    Not only is it extremely costly, but mandating that every TSA agent have such training then means TSA agents become first responders. If an agent wanted that role, perhaps he or she should have a different job.

  • Kevin

    Maybe it’s too obvious, but could the TSA be worried about a faked medical emergency as a way to distract agents from their security duties?
    Still, it would seem to me that they need a very specific procedure in place for this situation, like
    1. Go to high alert mode. (No stepping away so that guys can duck under barriers to kiss girlfriends.) Break time is cancelled or somehow additional TSA agents are summoned to the scene.
    2. One agent is dispatched to call 911 and assess the situation.
    3. Agent should ask if anyone is a doctor, paramedic, nurse, or has first aid/CPR training. (In a crowd, statistically, there ought to be.)
    4. The volunteer should be ‘deputized’ to handle the medical situation until paramedics arrive; the agent should continue to monitor the situation and watch for suspicious activity.
    Now, wouldn’t that be clearer?

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