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Officer Stephen Martin, with Marine Corps Police Department, takes a moment to thank Fire and Emergency Services personnel for saving his life during a Lifesaving Award presentation aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow Oct. 15, 2021.

Photo by Rob L. Jackson

FES personnel earn Lifesaving Award

29 Oct 2021 | Laurie Pearson Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow

Personnel with Fire and Emergency Services received Lifesaving Awards during a ceremony held in front of Base Headquarters, building 15, aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California, October 15.

   The award was a result of the quick and efficient actions taken by firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics during an incident which took place on December 31, 2020.

   “At approximately 2:52 p.m., MCLB Barstow’s Fire & Emergency Services Dispatch Center received a call from the Yermo guard shack reporting that one of their officers was feeling ill and needed Fire & Emergency Services to come check him out,” said Greg Kunkel, Emergency Medical Services chief. “At 2:55 p.m. Medic Engine 402 and Reserve Medic Ambulance 401R were dispatched for reported shortness of breath and chest pain.”

   Captain and Emergency Medical Technician Tim Yonta, Firefighter and Paramedic Noah Glaza, FFs and EMTs Michael O’Dwyer, and Jose Peralta arrived at the front gate of the Yermo Annex in ME402 at 2:58 p.m. and immediately began to assess the patient, a civilian Police Officer with the Marine Corps Police Department.

   “We began gathering information on his current well-being, then we used our Cardiac Monitor to obtain a 4-lead and a 12-lead Electrocardiogram,” Glaza said.

   At 3:04 p.m. MA401R arrived on scene as well, staffed by FF and PM Robert Moir, and Firefighter and EMT Zachariah Maring.

   “Once the 12 lead was completed, Glaza and myself immediately recognized that the patient was actively having a heart attack,” said Moir. “We immediately had the patient loaded up into the ambulance and initiated transport. The patient had a STEMI which is a life threatening condition in which can only be alleviated with appropriate definitive care at a hospital that has a Cath Lab.”

   “A STEMI (ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction), is the most severe type of heart attack, and happens when an artery supplying blood to the heart suddenly becomes partially or completely blocked,” Kunkel explained.

   “With the nature of this call it was determined that the most appropriate hospital was St Mary’s, in Apple Valley,” Glaza said.  

   The severity of the patient’s status was immediate to both Glaza and Moir, and the decision to start rapid transport to the closest hospital with a STEMI Center was made very quickly, Kunkel stated.

   “This kind of injury is extremely time critical to getting proper treatment in order for good patient outcomes,” Moir said. “We finished our assessment and Glaza and I continued care en route to the hospital preparing him for a trip to the Cath Lab without delay once we arrived at the hospital.”

   Due to the nature and severity of the call Glaza, from ME402, rode along with Moir in the ambulance in case the patient deteriorated further, in transport. They arrived at St. Mary’s hospital at 3:49 p.m. and the patient was taken directly to the Cath-Lab, bypassing the emergency department, altogether.

   “The team gave a report to the cardiologist and his staff upon arrival, and without further incident the patient was prepped for immediate cardiac catheterization,” Kunkel said. “Several days later I, as EMS Chief, contacted St. Mary’s Hospital for follow-up report on the patient. In speaking with the charge nurse it was conveyed to me that the patient had a 100 percent blockage of the Right Coronary Artery.”

   During the procedure a stent was placed, restoring blood flow to the heart.”

   “It is my sincerest belief that had 911 been contacted only a few minutes later, or the crews of ME402 and MA401R not worked so efficiently together, that this very well may have turned into a case where CPR would have been necessary. If not for the quick actions of Yonta, O’Dwyer, Peralta, Maring, Glaza, and Moir, this call could have gone very differently. Glaza and Moir worked superbly together to identify, treat, and transport the patient with this life threatening condition to the appropriate facility where he ultimately had the coronary artery blockage alleviated.”

   For their actions regarding incident, Kunkel nominated both crews for the prestigious United States Marine Corps Fire & Emergency Services Life Saving Award. In response to earning the awards, both teams seem to humbly resonate with the same sentiment: They are glad they could be at the right place, at the right time, and be able to help.

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