Airmen help woman escape from vehicle

Published May 31, 2011
By Senior Airman Benjamin Sutton
366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- Imagine driving 75 mile per hour on the interstate and all of a sudden a massive dust cloud soars into the sky on the side of the on-coming lane of traffic. You see a car has rolled off the interstate and is now upside down in the Idaho terrain. As you slow down, you notice a woman struggling to get out of her smoking, overturned car.

This is exactly the situation Senior Airman Justin A. Ogburn and Airman 1st Class Brandon C. Kilburg, both precision guided munitions crew members with the 366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, faced May 22 while driving to Boise.

Luckily for the injured woman, the quick-thinking "Gunfighter" heroes were there to call local emergency response authorities and provide on-scene assistance.

"I found the woman lying on the roof of her vehicle, bleeding from her left shoulder and struggling to get out," said Airman Kilburg. "She was a little disoriented, so I gently gripped her right arm while sliding my left arm under her waist in order to slowly pull her out from inside her overturned vehicle. Once she was out, I sat her down against her vehicle so she could attempt to collect herself."

According to the two Airmen, other motorists began stopping at the accident scene to provide assistance; a semi-truck driver said he witnessed the woman's car roll three times before finally landing upside down.

"We didn't even talk inside the truck, we just reacted once we saw the gigantic dust cloud and the woman struggling," said Airman Ogburn. "I had my cell phone in my hand and was calling 911 while Kilburg assisted her. There was smoke coming from the bottom of her vehicle, so I made sure the vehicle was turned off and started checking for fuel or oil leaks that could potentially make the accident worse. I wanted to make sure the overturned vehicle would not explode or catch on fire while Kilburg and the injured woman were still underneath."

Two of the motorists who stopped happened to be registered nurses and were able to take the stunned woman's vital signs, evaluate her bleeding shoulder, and provide on-scene care before the emergency response crew arrived.

"The Equipment Maintenance Squadron is extremely proud of the quick action taken by Airman 1st Class Kilburg and Senior Airman Ogburn," said Maj. Charles E. Dunaway Jr., 366th EMS commander. "Every day we send our young Airmen to training for these kinds of situations and this only underscores the value of that training and what we do every day. Airmen Kilburg and Ogburn are fantastic examples of what the Air Force stands for as well as what the Gunfighters offer the local community."

Airmen Ogburn and Kilburg exemplify the second Air Force core value of "Service Before Self." Both Airmen specifically mentioned Air Force training as the reason they thought of nothing but helping the injured woman, regardless of their personal safety. They have shown by their actions that as Airmen, professional duties and values will always take precedence over personal desires because of intense training, high standards and commitment to caring for others.