Unresponsive Woman Recovers With Aid Of Airport Customs Officers

Herndon VA

10 February, 2022

12:02 PM

Description

DULLES, VA — Emergency medical technicians with U.S. Customs and Border Protection assisted in reviving an unresponsive woman Sunday at Washington Dulles International Airport. Airport ambassadors notified CBP officers around 5:36 p.m. that a woman in a wheelchair near the baggage belt was unresponsive. Airport paramedics examined the 54-year-old Indian national and U.S. resident, who had just come off a 15-hour flight from Doha, United Arab Emirates. CBP Supervisory Officer Nicholas Karstetter and Office Herman Hundal, who are both certified advanced emergency medical technicians, began administering CPR on the woman at 5:38 p.m. In addition, Hundal connected the woman to an automated external defibrillator, but the device advised against administering shock. Chief Leo Carbone, who was also a certified EMT, and Supervisor Harmanpreet Singh assisted the other CBP officers in administering CPR compressions. Karstetter also used a King airway device on the woman. Fire and rescue personnel from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority arrived at 5:46 p.m. and took over lifesaving efforts. The woman was placed on a stretcher and taken to the CBP's inspection station at 6 p.m. MWAA emergency responders reported a minute later that the woman had regained a pulse. The woman was able to breathe on her own again by 7:30 p.m. at a nearby hospital, according to MWAA police. "Though the woman didn't regain a pulse until she was enroute to the hospital, the incredible lifesaving efforts by Customs and Border Protection EMTs during those critical first 10 minutes have helped her to survive so that she can spend more time with her family and friends again, and that is a great story," said Daniel Escobedo, CBP's area port director for the Area Port of Washington, D.C., in a release. "CBP is comprised of many compassionate and caring professional law enforcement officers who have volunteered to serve an additional duty as EMTs to ensure that travelers suffering medical distress have a fighting chance at life."