Widow: Defibrillator not used because of husband’s hairy chest

A man was flying from Los Angeles to Albuquerque on Southwest Airlines when he died of a heart attack. His wife thinks his hairy chest had something to do with his death.

By Nancy Laflin KOAT Albuquerque.

Caroline and Jack Jordan were on the Southwest Airlines flight when the heart attack occurred. Passengers performed CPR, but he didn’t survive the attack.

His wife said a defibrillator was on board, but wasn’t used because of her husband’s hairy chest.

“The flight attendant that had been right up there with us said because his chest is too hairy,” she said.

A local Albuquerque physician said reacting to an emergency quickly can be the difference between life and death, and chest hair is rarely a factor with a defibrillator not working.

The staff at the Albuquerque Heart Institute said there are razors and scissors included with the devices to shave hair and cut clothing and jewelry. Caroline Jordan said for her husband it was too late.

In our CPR/AED Classes at Northwest Response we teach all students opn how to deal with a hairy chest before applying the AED electrodes.  All Students who become certified in CPR & AED Deployment know how to deal with a situation like this, obviously Southwest Airlines Needs Some serious retraining, with a certified instructor.