SFS Defenders save a life

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Caitlin Guinazu
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  A school bus parked in the outbound lane of Gunfighter Avenue caused traffic to slow during the afternoon of May 6. Gate guards reported the suspicious activity and Master Sgt. Jonathan Krueger and Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Oates, 366th Security Forces Squadron flight chiefs, to the scene.

"My adrenaline was pumping when I arrived on scene and saw what was going on," said Oates. "When I reached down to check for a pulse and couldn't find one, the adrenaline really started to really kick in."

The call of a bus parked on the side of the road, turned out to be anything but normal.

"I'll be honest with you, when I arrived I did not expect to find an unresponsive individual on that bus. It definitely caught me by surprise," said Krueger. "That day I learned to never treat a call as routine and to always expect something unexpected to happen."

The crew assessed the situation and quickly determined the individual most likely suffered a heart attack. Krueger reacted by carrying the individual from the bus to the sidewalk before calling an ambulance while Oates directed traffic around the scene.

"In what felt like hours, but was really only minutes, the medics arrived," said Oates. "Quickly and professionally, they set out to do as they were trained."

The responding medics were able to restart the individual's heart and transported him to the MHAFB emergency room, where he was treated.

Relying on past training ensured a positive outcome for the situation.

"This story is one that is experienced by all first responders, firefighters, medical, police and EMTs across the world every day," said Krueger. "In our case training was a huge benefit, as first responders we recognize certain situations, this was one of them."

Even though it was the two SFS members who responded, it was the joint collaboration of agencies that made it possible.

"I would have to say also that if SFS had not recognized the fact that that bus was looking suspicious, if we had not arrived when we did and if the medics didn't resuscitate him when they did, he might not be with us today," said Krueger. "That's the bottom line, we worked together and we were able to save his life."