For a little background... I am a doctor and, previous to my flight this evening, I received a phone call that one of my patients was having a medical emergency and I let her know I was on the plane and would be there shortly. We were still at the loading gate and I wasn't aware of any rules that we are not allowed to take a call while at the gate. A flight attendant then arrived and asked me to hang up the phone as we had begun moving. I was speaking to an 85 year old who was hard of hearing and I had to repeat myself while trying to hang up the phone, therefore the flight attendant was upset that I couldn't comply immediately. I do apologize for any inconvenience to your flight or your crew... and I explained to the flight attendant why I took the call and that I apologized as well... but further threatening to kick me off the flight and prevent me from flying with Southwest again in the future I don't think was necessary, especially since it was already explained that I was needed in Nashville for a medical emergency. Adding to it the reason why we were delayed and still sitting at the gate was because the flight attendant in question arrived late (a fact which was noticed but I was mindful enough not mention). I do apologize for my part in the situation, but I also believe your attendant should treat your passengers with more understanding, especially given her own culpability for the delay. I enjoyed flying with Southwest on the trip up and even considered flying more in the future vs driving to my annual conferences... but this situation has given me pause if doing so might be detrimental to my patients well-being given a similar situation in the future. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Claimed loss: Passenger threatened to be removed from flight due to taking an emergency phone call at the loading gate.
Desired outcome: I would appreciate a response. Being unable to attend a medical emergency due to being kicked off of a flight for trying to attend to a medical emergency doesn't seem reasonable to me.
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