NCO takes charge, helps save life

Blackanthem.com, PETERSON AFB, Colo., October 27, 2005

A 21st Medical Group NCO took charge of a situation and helped save a man’s life while on a recent camping trip in the Rockies.

Staff Sgt. Shelley Murray, 21st MDG Dental Laboratory craftsman stationed here, and her husband, Shawn, were on a camping trip at Eleven Mile Canyon near Lake George, Colo., with a group of friends when the life-or-death situation occurred.

Sergeant Murray said she and her husband had just arrived at their campsite from a day of hiking and fishing when a man yelled for help from a campsite nearby.

"The man explained that his brother had taken some drugs and was unconscious," said Sergeant Murray. When she saw the victim, she initially thought he was dead. "His eyes were rolled into the back of his head and his limbs were completely blue," she said.

The man who asked for help explained that his brother ingested a medicated pain patch. He said that after a few moments, the man went wild, ran into the river and then collapsed at the site where he presently lay.

"She immediately ran toward the fallen brother," said Joe Humphries, a friend camping with Sergeant Murray. "I know when she first saw the man, she thought he was dead. She started working to save his life anyway."

Sergeant Murray and her husband immediately took charge of the situation. They took off the man’s wet clothes and wrapped him in dry blankets. They couldn’t find a pulse, so they started cardio pulmonary resuscitation.

"I performed chest compressions while Shawn performed rescue breaths," said Sergeant Murray. She gave her husband guidance to ensure he administered the breathing correctly and effectively.

Sergeant Murray, who received CPR instructor certification in April, said that is what enabled her to take charge and provide the much-needed guidance to her husband. They continued the rescue breaths for an hour until rescue workers arrived at the scene.

"Just before the rescue workers arrived on scene, the man seemed to be slipping away," she said. "Then, to our surprise he awoke and tried to sit up."

The couple helped calm the victim and talked to him until the rescue squad took over. When the paramedics arrived shortly after, they stabilized the man and evacuated him to a hospital in Colorado Springs. Sergeant Murray didn’t know his status after that.

"She never stopped. She maintained a calm and professional manner," Mr. Humphries said. "She took charge and made sure everyone was doing their part to save this guy’s life."

Sergeant Murray attributes her decision to take control of the situation to being an NCO in her Air Force specialty. She learned a lot about herself that day.

"As military members, we are taught to do our job to the best of our ability and to help others," she said. "I truly believe had we not been there that day and did what we did, this man would not have survived. That feeling is like nothing I have ever experienced before."
 

By Airman 1st Class Mandy Weightman
21st Space Wing Public Affairs