CKS airport criticized over delays in treatment

A man claimed yesterday that a colleague almost died at CKS International Airport due to delays in customs procedure.

Yang Ju-chien (楊儒堅) said the actions of airport authorities almost killed one of his employees after she fell ill on a flight from Japan to Taiwan on April 14.

"She waited 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive after the airplane landed and another 30 minutes to get through customs," Yang said at a press conference held by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷).

According to Yang, his employee Lin Chia-ni (林佳妮) experienced serious muscle cramps due to hyperventilation during the flight.

"About 80 minutes before the airplane was due to land, the crew on the aircraft informed the control tower to prepare for a medical emergency," he said.

"However, although we landed at 6:50pm, the ambulance didn't arrive until 7:10pm. We then spent another 30 minutes waiting for the customs inspectors," Yang said.

Yang also accused the staff on the airplane of lacking emergency medical knowledge.

"They put an oxygen mask on Lin, worsening her condition, and refused to give her a tranquilizer to ease her pain," he said.

"After the airplane finally landed at CKS airport, we appealed to the doctor inspecting Lin on the airplane to speed up the pace of customs procedure, but he told us we had to follow all the stipulated procedures," he said.

Wei Sheng-chih (魏勝之), the director of CKS International Airport said that Lin's case would be investigated to ascertain whether the airline involved, the control tower, or customs staff had behaved in an inappropriate way.