Wing member uses training to save life

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. A.J. Bosker
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  During the Air Combat Command Outstanding Airmen's banquet on April 4 at Langley AFB, Va., the grandmother of an award nominee collapsed on a couch and a call went out for help.

One Offutt Airmen attending the banquet, Col. (Dr.) Craig Castillo, 55th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander, assisted by a chief master sergeant, immediately assessed the patient's condition and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation because she was not breathing and had no pulse.

"We brought her down to the floor and initiated breaths and chest compressions," Colonel Castillo said.

When the colonel reassessed her condition, she didn't have a pulse and wasn't breathing.

By this time, the Langley AFB fire department arrived on scene with an automated external defibrillator. They used the AED to analyze whether or not the patient needed to be shocked. Shock was not advised so the colonel continued administering CPR.

Within one to two more minutes, an ambulance from Langley's 1st Medical Group arrived.

At about this time, she started to breathe on her own and a few moments later she had a pulse, the colonel said. However, she continued to be unresponsive. A few minutes later, a local ambulance crew arrived and took her to the local hospital.

"About two hours later, we were told by the family that she was still alive," Colonel Castillo said.

Some people might consider the actions of the colonel and other in a similar situation to be heroic. However, Colonel Castillo sees it different.

"What we did was basic CPR," explained the colonel. "I encourage everyone to take the basic CPR course. You never know when it may be needed."

Although the fire department was on scene in three to four minutes and the ambulance soon followed, the first three to four minutes are crucial to a patient's odds of recovery. With no oxygen, the brain cells begin to die within minutes.

"The worst case scenario is when someone you love goes down, and you do not know what to do," he said. "Be proactive and get the training needed to save another's life. You may never need it but you will be prepared and know what to do."

To get CPR training, contact your squadron CPR instructor. If your unit doesn't have a dedicated instructor, call the 55th Medical Support Squadron's department of education and training at 294-4617.