Narrative:

We arrived to the late inbound aircraft. My first officer was performing the walk around and I noticed my paperwork was on the lower pedestal. I saw I had a notoc (notification to captain) for 1 package of dry ice. With every notoc; I went back to the cargo hold to visually verify the dangerous goods to ensure that the paperwork matched and that the proper labels were there. Upon going to the back I queried the ground crew who presented me with two packages. One contained dry ice; and was labeled properly. The other packaged was labeled properly UN3373 cat. B but no dry ice as well- this was fine per notoc paperwork. However; what struck me as strange was the fact that the packaged boxes had a very large 'critical' wrapped over both packages. Also; the package not containing dry ice; had a label that said from [the medical company]: 'donated human tissue for transplant' 'if damage or delays occur; immediately notify...' 'emergency medical shipment' 'packed on wet ice' 'remove tissue from box in preparation for surgery ' etc. Something did not feel right; as I have always understood that shipments throughout my career were usually taken into the cabin where the temperature is better controlled. I asked the ground crew about the cornea transplant shipment which they did not know much. Walking back to the cockpit to get the dispatch phone number; then I saw the gate agent whom I asked 'are we a medevac flight?' when I said that I would have to call the company to get more information; she got very frustrated with me and seemed to pressure me saying 'we ship corneas out of here all the time; no need for medevac' 'were not gonna take a delay for this'. I was very unfamiliar with the whole situation. I immediately called dispatch and talked to [a dispatcher]. I described to [a dispatcher] the whole situation. [The dispatcher] said that if I did not feel comfortable with the corneas in the back its well within my power; so I elected to place the corneas in the crew closet from which I included it in west&B (weight and balance) calculations to keep them in a much better climate control. The weather outside was extremely hot (80/90* +) and the cooling abilities of the packs was mediocre at best. And considering they were only packed on wet ice; I was concerned. I also asked about possible medevac since we were carrying organs; we bounced back and forth and decided to file it. I consulted the fom (flight operations manual) which stated that the ground crew was supposed to tell us about the shipment which they did not. Also that the PIC (pilot in command) was to acknowledge the info and ensure the release in the ICAO remarks section contained the notation sts/medevac. The release did not contain this information. [The dispatcher]; went and refiled us as medevac; and was very helpful with it all. We pushed off the gate 3 min late. Inflight; numerous delays forced surrounding aircraft into 1 hour + holds; however with our medevac status we avoided this. There was maybe 15/20 min of hold fuel on board to work with and in all honesty we would have had to divert if it were not for the medevac notation. Found upon ground crew query after receiving notoc paperwork. Called dispatch to notify and receive medevac notation on flight release per fom.future shipments must be labeled and announced properly if need of medevac is needed. Ground crew should tell captain of organs being transported. Ground crews should not pressure crew with delay coding especially with dangerous goods.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EMB-145 flight crew reported incorrect aircraft Dispatch code due to 'Critical' Human Tissue. Flight was re-dispatched as Medevac flight.

Narrative: We arrived to the late inbound aircraft. My First Officer was performing the walk around and I noticed my paperwork was on the lower pedestal. I saw I had a NOTOC (Notification to Captain) for 1 package of dry ice. With every NOTOC; I went back to the cargo hold to visually verify the Dangerous Goods to ensure that the paperwork matched and that the proper labels were there. Upon going to the back I queried the ground crew who presented me with two packages. One contained dry ice; and was labeled properly. The other packaged was labeled properly UN3373 Cat. B but no dry ice as well- this was fine per NOTOC paperwork. However; what struck me as strange was the fact that the packaged boxes had a very large 'CRITICAL' wrapped over both packages. Also; the package not containing dry ice; had a label that said from [the medical company]: 'Donated Human Tissue for Transplant' 'If damage or delays occur; immediately notify...' 'Emergency Medical Shipment' 'Packed on WET Ice' 'remove tissue from box in preparation for surgery ' etc. Something did not feel right; as I have always understood that shipments throughout my career were usually taken into the cabin where the temperature is better controlled. I asked the ground crew about the Cornea Transplant shipment which they did not know much. Walking back to the cockpit to get the Dispatch phone number; then I saw the Gate Agent whom I asked 'are we a Medevac flight?' When I said that I would have to call the company to get more information; she got very frustrated with me and seemed to pressure me saying 'we ship corneas out of here all the time; no need for Medevac' 'were not gonna take a delay for this'. I was very unfamiliar with the whole situation. I immediately called Dispatch and talked to [a Dispatcher]. I described to [a Dispatcher] the whole situation. [The Dispatcher] said that if I did not feel comfortable with the corneas in the back its well within my power; so I elected to place the corneas in the crew closet from which I included it in W&B (Weight and Balance) calculations to keep them in a much better climate control. The weather outside was extremely hot (80/90* +) and the cooling abilities of the packs was mediocre at best. And considering they were only packed on wet ice; I was concerned. I also asked about possible MEDEVAC since we were carrying organs; we bounced back and forth and decided to file it. I consulted the FOM (Flight Operations Manual) which stated that the ground crew was supposed to tell us about the shipment which they did not. Also that the PIC (Pilot in Command) was to acknowledge the info and ensure the release in the ICAO remarks section contained the notation STS/MEDEVAC. The Release did not contain this information. [The Dispatcher]; went and refiled us as MEDEVAC; and was very helpful with it all. We pushed off the gate 3 min late. Inflight; numerous delays forced surrounding aircraft into 1 hour + holds; however with our MEDEVAC status we avoided this. There was maybe 15/20 min of hold fuel on board to work with and in all honesty we would have had to divert if it were not for the MEDEVAC notation. Found upon ground crew query after receiving NOTOC paperwork. Called Dispatch to notify and receive MEDEVAC notation on flight release per FOM.Future shipments must be labeled and announced properly if need of Medevac is needed. Ground crew should tell Captain of organs being transported. Ground crews should not pressure crew with delay coding especially with Dangerous Goods.

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.