Date: 201912
Local time of day: 0001-0600
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Aircraft: A319
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Taxi
Aircraft component: APU
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Flight Attendant In Charge
Reporter qualification: Flight Attendant Current
Human factors: Physiological - Other
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury
Detector: Person Flight Attendant
When detected: Taxi
Result: Flight Crew Returned To Gate; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: While taxiing to the runway in ZZZ; the exhaust fume odors became stronger than normal. Flight Attendant 2 and Flight Attendant 4 called from the back of the aircraft to say the fumes were VERY strong back there. I; the Flight Attendant 1; called the Captain to let him know. He said the exhaust fumes were from all of the aircraft in front of us; and that we were about ready to take off; but to call him back if I needed to. I called Flight Attendant 2 and Flight Attendant 4 and relayed the Captain's response. They said the fumes were so strong; they were feeling ill. I called the Captain again and told him; and he said that we would go back to the gate. I called and let Flight Attendant 2 and Flight Attendant 4 know; and they said they wanted paramedics to meet the plane. When we arrived at the gate; Flight Attendant 2 and Flight Attendant 4 came to the front of the plane to have the paramedics check them out; and I went to the back of the plane. The passengers were deplaned; and Flight Attendant 2 and Flight Attendant 4 were taken to the hospital. I felt okay; so I didn't go. But in the next hour or so; while I was filling out my report and debriefing with the Captain; I started to feel nauseous and I was feeling a lot of pressure in my head. In the meantime; I was talking to Daily Ops and Medic and Crew Planning. I decided to go to the hospital; too; and personnel in Ops set it up for me and; after a short while; the ambulance came to get me. When I got to the hospital; I saw Flight Attendant 2 and Flight Attendant 4. I was placed in a cloth cubicle at the hospital. After a while; I was given an oxygen mask to wear; and the medical person took my blood pressure and told me what it was. It was something like 138/96; I don't remember exactly because I was pretty confused about it all at that point; and there was a lot of pressure in my head. Anyway; I told her that was really high for me.  She told me it was to be expected because it was the middle of the night and I was in the hospital. After another hour or so; someone came in to draw blood but was unsuccessful in finding my artery. I sat there for what felt like another hour. Someone else came in to draw blood; and after digging around a bit; found my artery and drew blood. After the doctor came in later and said my level of carbon monoxide was only 3% and that they were going to release me.  I was told to put all of the clothes I wore that day in a plastic bag to take to the dry cleaners and to take a very hot shower when I got to the hotel. I did that. My head continued to feel a lot of pressure and I was nauseous and my mouth tasted funny. I woke up after about 1/2 an hour with so much pain in my hip that I almost threw up. I took another hot shower; took 4 ibuprofen; put an ice pack on it; but it still didn't go away. I took a hot bath and was able to sleep in the bathtub for a while. When I got out; I put a lidocaine patch on it and tried to go back to sleep; but pretty much wasn't able to get comfortable enough to rest The pain was constant and sporadically intense; and didn't seemed to [be] caused by any one movement in particular. The flight home later that day was difficult; because of my painful hip.  That night the only way I could rest was if I sat in a living room chair sitting up. The next day I woke up with a really bad headache; which was bad for several hours; unresponsive to pain relievers. The pressure in my head was still there. The nausea was still there. I also had difficulty keeping my balance when walking; partly because my hip hurt so much and partly because I still felt out of it.  The third day; I woke up with a migraine; which I hadn't had for several months since changing one of my medications. It was unresponsive to my prescription migraine medicine. When it finally subsided; the pressure in my head was still there; but was less. I'm finally less nauseous. And my massage person worked on my hip this afternoon and it feels like it's getting better. The insurance company called me today and said that the Company maintenance report said that there was an oil leak in the APU on the aircraft we were on.




Synopsis: A319 Flight Attendant in Charge reported notifying Captain during departure taxi of strong fumes odor and resulting physiological issues. Flight returned to the gate; passengers deplaned; and cabin crew received medical treatment.