A man at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York died from a heart attack after two teams of emergency responders couldn’t get to him — because their electronic identification cards wouldn’t open the doors.
Genseye Adekunle, 50, of New Jersey was on route to board his Arik Air flight to Nigeria when he fell to the floor, right in the newly renovated Terminal 4, the New York Post reported. Emergency responders were called but were unable to enter the terminal from the street because the officer’s security card they needed to access the area was inoperative. That team was delayed entry for about two minutes, the Post reported.
Meanwhile, another emergency response team with the fire department that arrived around the same time was denied entry, too. The team tried to gain access to the victim with a police escort’s identification access card — but the security system failed to recognize the card. The team was prevented from giving aid to the man for crucial seconds, the Post reported.
“Seconds are critical when responding to a cardiac event,” one source said, as the Post reported. “Unfortunately, unnecessary obstacles took away those critical seconds and possibly a patient’s fighting chance.”
Emergency responders were finally able to reach Mr. Adekunle, but he was declared dead at the hospital.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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