A B767's aircraft's passenger call system was MEL'ed prior to flight. After takeoff a passenger's mo...

Narrative:

Upon climbout; passenger suffered from a seizure. Passenger call lights were not working at time of departure and we were aware of this; but call lights were placarded and we departed. Purser questioned the decision in the event of an emergency with having no working call lights. Twenty minutes after takeoff passenger's mom was screaming because of daughter who went into seizure and again call lights did not work. Purser was most involved in incident as she was first on the scene. I retrieved oxygen from mid-galley and took it to her. She instructed me to see if I could find an oxygen unit where the ambu-bag tubular which could connect to it. We do not have this on aircraft and if we did; it is not taught in training. Captain advised passengers we were returning to our departure airport and would be landing in 25 minutes. Landed and passenger was in aisle upon landing. Aircraft had issues as it was brought over from hangar this morning; but again was placarded and we were good to go. In this situation I witnessed; it was pretty extreme and getting back on an aircraft with call lights that maintenance placarded upset me to the point of needing to remove myself at the time. My thoughts went back to security as well as medical in this given situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767's aircraft's passenger call system was MEL'ed prior to flight. After takeoff a passenger's Mother had difficulty notifying the flight attendants that her daughter was in full seizure. An emergency was declared with a return to land.

Narrative: Upon climbout; passenger suffered from a seizure. Passenger call lights were not working at time of departure and we were aware of this; but call lights were placarded and we departed. Purser questioned the decision in the event of an emergency with having no working call lights. Twenty minutes after takeoff passenger's Mom was screaming because of daughter who went into seizure and again Call Lights did not work. Purser was most involved in incident as she was first on the scene. I retrieved oxygen from mid-galley and took it to her. She instructed me to see if I could find an oxygen unit where the ambu-bag tubular which could connect to it. We do not have this on aircraft and if we did; it is not taught in training. Captain advised passengers we were returning to our departure airport and would be landing in 25 minutes. Landed and passenger was in aisle upon landing. Aircraft had issues as it was brought over from hangar this morning; but again was placarded and we were good to go. In this situation I witnessed; it was pretty extreme and getting back on an aircraft with call lights that maintenance placarded upset me to the point of needing to remove myself at the time. My thoughts went back to security as well as medical in this given situation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	853809
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-300 and 300 ER
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Communication Systems
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Person 2
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness

A B767's aircraft's passenger call system was MEL'ed prior to flight. After takeoff a passenger's mother had difficulty notifying the flight attendants that her daughter was in full seizure. An emergency was declared with a return to land.