Problem Analysis: ) ) Directions: The "Red Sweat" Mystery This article reprinted from the Wall Street Journal in 1980 describes a problem that had no proven cause. Your task is to use the facts that are provided in the article to determine the most probable cause(s). Although there is not sufficient evidence to prove any one cause conclusively, there is enough data to use the Problem Analysis techniques to eliminate some theories and to focus in on one or a few possible causes. Associates for a Productive Workplace, Inc. Lincoln, Rhode Island 02865 ) C The Wall Street Journal, Monday, March 10, 1980 "Red Sweat" Mystery at Eastern Airlines is Baffling Scientists. Flight Attendants on Airbuses, Mainly on Florida Routes, Are Afflicted by the Illness By William M. Carley, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal A strange illness is afflicting some stewardesses on Eastern Airlines flights. During flights, many are breaking out in a red sweat, mainly on their faces, chests, and hands. Some believe they're sweating blood, although Eastern says there's no evidence that the fluid is blood. The malady is also producing red spots on the skin of flight attendants' faces, chests, backs and thighs. Mainly of pin-prick size, the tiny spots can last for hours. Whatever it is, the malady is touching off panic among the flight attendants, bafflement among scientists and a major detective hunt at Eastern. "We are doing all we can to pin this down," says Dr. David Mallet, Eastern's director of flight medicine. "We don't want flight attendants with red spots." At least 60 Eastern flight attendants have developed the "red sweat," as it is being called. Many have had it two or three times, and total of over 120 incidents have been reported, Eastern says. Most cases have turned up in the last two months. Almost all cases have been on flights between New York and Florida on the A300, the European jet Eastern began flying recently. Burning Sensation "My face became warm and flushed, with a slight burning sensation," says one Eastern stewardess." So, I looked in a Associates for a Productive Workplace, Inc. Lincoln, Rhode Island 02865 mirror, and there it was - a pinkish fluid oozing out on my left cheek - and I thought' Oh, my God, what's this?" The stewardess, who declines to be named for fear of being fired, says she wiped the fluid off and kept working. But her face itched, burned and remained bright red for hours afterwards. Though these symptoms then subsided, her skin remained dry, irritated and tender for more than a week, she says. Other flight attendants have recounted similar experiences on the A300 in reports filed with their union and Eastern. - A steward, flying from New York to Miami Jan. 29, reported bleeding on his neck "resembling a razor burn in that it has small spots." -A stewardess, working on a flight from New York to Fort Lauderdale Feb. 9, said it "looked like blood coming out of my pores." -A stewardess on Jan. 31 noted "bleeding on forehead and cheeks as if I had been sweating through my pores." Eastern's Investigation To help determine the cause of the symptoms, Eastern has enlisted the aid of Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, where doctors have been examining a number of the flight attendants. Eastern has also sought help from experts in aerospace medicine at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Air Force and Duke University. And the company has hired a consultant firm to check its airplanes. All has been to no avail at least so far. "We just can't track this thing down - it's spooky," says Dr. Millet of Eastern. The bafflement is reminiscent of that several