Your Heart is Safe With American Airlines

Marking the 10th Anniversary of the first Passenger Saved by an AED

February is Heart Awareness Month, and American Airlines has hit a milestone. February 18, 2008 is the 10 year anniversary of the first passenger whose life was saved by an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) on a commercial flight.

On February 18, 1998, Robert Giggey collapsed while boarding an American Airlines flight. Doctors later told him that the heart attack would have been fatal if not for the combined efforts of American Airlines' flight attendant Shawn Lynn, the AED and a passenger who was EMT.

In 1997, American Airlines was the first US airline to have AEDs available on board. The AED has been credited with helping save dozens of passengers in the past 10 years.

For families like the Giggeys, having a defibrillator on board means that he is alive and well ten years later to talk about it. According to American Airlines when Giggey awoke in hospital days later, his doctor told him, “You are the luckiest man on earth”.

From the program’s early beginning, American Airlines says that they have ensured that all of its almost 18,000 flight attendants are AED/CPR certified every year.

It seems that in the most literal way, your heart is safe with American Airlines.