Indian Woman Found Unresponsive in Wheelchair Near Baggage Belt at Washington Airport, Hospitalised

A 54-year old Indian woman, found unresponsive in a wheelchair near the baggage belt at Washington Dulles International Airport, has been saved with the timely intervention of emergency medical personnel, according to US authorities who described the situation as harrowing. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Tuesday said the woman, an Indian national and US lawful permanent resident, arrived at the airport on Sunday evening after a 15-hour flight from Doha, Qatar.

Airport ambassadors alerted nearby CBP officers of the woman being unresponsive in a wheelchair near the baggage belt. For a harrowing 10 minutes, US Customs and Border Protection emergency medical technicians administered extraordinary life saving efforts" on the unresponsive female traveller at the airport, the federal agency said in a statement.

Later, airport paramedics regained a pulse on the woman, who has not been identified. The statement added that as per news from the hospital, the woman was breathing on her own. Within minutes of finding the woman unresponsive, CBP Officer Nicholas Karstetter, who is a certified advanced emergency medical technician (EMT), and Supervisory CBP Officer Herman Hundal, another certified EMT, responded and immediately initiated Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

Two additional CBP officers — Chief Leo Carbone, another certified EMT; and Supervisor Harmanpreet Singh — arrived and took turns administering CPR compressions. Minutes later, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Fire and Rescue arrived and assumed lifesaving efforts with CBP EMT assistance. They then placed the woman on a stretcher and departed CBP's inspection station and soon reported that they regained a pulse. MWAA Police officers report that the woman was breathing on her own at the hospital.

Though the woman didn't regain a pulse until she was enroute to the hospital, the incredible life saving 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, CBP's Area Port Director for the Area Port of Washington Daniel Escobedo said.

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