Narrative:

I was training on the north feeder position when aircraft X [advised of a medical issue]. My trainee immediately called over a supervisor and told them what was going on. He then told the mac (multiple arrival coordinator) what was going on. The supervisor came over and wrote down the call sign of the aircraft and then walked away. Aircraft X was initially issued a runway which is a very long taxi to the gate. It was my trainee's idea to give aircraft X a runway which would have a shorter taxi to the gate. The mac said that would be ok; and that was it. We asked aircraft X what runway they wanted. We were in the middle of a rush utilizing triple simultaneous approach procedures and the requested was not one of the three runways we were using. To get aircraft X on the ground as soon as possible requires making a gap on all three runways so they are not next to anyone on a parallel approach course. Usually; the mac and/or the supervisor will make the plan and coordinate the plan with all sectors necessary. The responsibility of coordinating this ultimately falls on the supervisor. In this situation we had a supervisor with no experience working traffic on the front line. In order to get this [aircraft] in as quickly as possible; I had to make the plan and then coordinate the plan with the three vector positions so they could make the necessary gap to accommodate the emergency. This takes my attention away from my trainee and the traffic in my sector. I knew the risk I was taking at the time. Should I have to weigh the pros and cons of taking such action? I'm not sure; but I know that in a situation involving a medical [situation]; minutes can make a big difference in the outcome for the passenger/patient on board. If nobody else is going to take action to make something happen; I will. Even at the risk of taking attention away from my own traffic. The supervisor who was in charge at the time is certified on departure positions and has had some 'familiarization' on arrival; whatever that means; but they are not certified to work these arrival positions. This supervisor is one of 4 supervisors we have that can be in charge of a line that they don't have certifications on. The individual in charge of a line; especially a line as complex as the arrival line at one of the world's busiest airports; should have a better understanding of the operation so they can make informed; and more importantly; safe decisions to be able to get an emergency on the ground as soon as possible.the supervisor should be certified to work the vector and feeder positions so they can really understand what decisions to make. It is unsafe to put the extra workload of coming up with a plan and coordinating the plan with multiple other positions while working a busy sector. A controller working live traffic should be able to rely on a supervisor to help when unexpected situations arise. And what if something happened while I was coordinating with the other sectors? What if I have a loss while my attention is taken away from my traffic? I'm the one who will be held accountable for it. Management has put me in a spot where I have to put myself at risk in order to safely and expeditiously get a medical emergency on the ground as soon as possible. There should be a controller in charge in that position instead of a supervisor with no certifications; but this would require more overtime to be scheduled. The unofficial motto at the TRACON these days is; 'safety first; but only when fiscally responsible.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tracon Controller reported diverting attention to plan and coordinate a priority aircraft because the Supervisor was not knowledgeable enough about the operation to accomplish.

Narrative: I was training on the North Feeder position when Aircraft X [advised of a medical issue]. My trainee immediately called over a Supervisor and told them what was going on. He then told the MAC (Multiple Arrival Coordinator) what was going on. The Supervisor came over and wrote down the call sign of the aircraft and then walked away. Aircraft X was initially issued a runway which is a very long taxi to the gate. It was my trainee's idea to give Aircraft X a runway which would have a shorter taxi to the gate. The MAC said that would be ok; and that was it. We asked Aircraft X what runway they wanted. We were in the middle of a rush utilizing triple simultaneous approach procedures and the requested was not one of the three runways we were using. To get Aircraft X on the ground ASAP requires making a gap on all three runways so they are not next to anyone on a parallel approach course. Usually; the MAC and/or the Supervisor will make the plan and coordinate the plan with all sectors necessary. The responsibility of coordinating this ultimately falls on the Supervisor. In this situation we had a Supervisor with no experience working traffic on the front line. In order to get this [aircraft] in as quickly as possible; I had to make the plan and then coordinate the plan with the three vector positions so they could make the necessary gap to accommodate the emergency. This takes my attention away from my trainee and the traffic in my sector. I knew the risk I was taking at the time. Should I have to weigh the pros and cons of taking such action? I'm not sure; but I know that in a situation involving a medical [situation]; minutes can make a big difference in the outcome for the passenger/patient on board. If nobody else is going to take action to make something happen; I will. Even at the risk of taking attention away from my own traffic. The Supervisor who was in charge at the time is certified on departure positions and has had some 'familiarization' on arrival; whatever that means; but they are not certified to work these arrival positions. This Supervisor is one of 4 Supervisors we have that can be in charge of a line that they don't have certifications on. The individual in charge of a line; especially a line as complex as the arrival line at one of the world's busiest airports; should have a better understanding of the operation so they can make informed; and more importantly; safe decisions to be able to get an emergency on the ground as soon as possible.The Supervisor should be certified to work the vector and feeder positions so they can really understand what decisions to make. It is unsafe to put the extra workload of coming up with a plan and coordinating the plan with multiple other positions while working a busy sector. A controller working live traffic should be able to rely on a supervisor to help when unexpected situations arise. And what if something happened while I was coordinating with the other sectors? What if I have a LOSS while my attention is taken away from my traffic? I'm the one who will be held accountable for it. Management has put me in a spot where I have to put myself at risk in order to safely and expeditiously get a medical emergency on the ground ASAP. There should be a Controller in Charge in that position instead of a Supervisor with no certifications; but this would require more overtime to be scheduled. The unofficial motto at the TRACON these days is; 'Safety first; but only when fiscally responsible.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.