Photo By Keith Hayes | The Department of Defense Lifesaving Award and accompanying uniform pin was presented...... read more read more
Captain/Paramedic Robert Manz, Firefighter/Paramedic Kori Wymore, Firefighter Jason Shipe, and Firefighter Michael Hearons, were presented with the Department of Defense Lifesaving Award in a ceremony in front of Fire Station 401 aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California, December 4.
Assistant Fire Chief Greg Kunkel, who prepared the package submitted for consideration for the award, read how the four firefighters assigned to Medic Engine 401 from the base were called to a Newberry Springs address the evening of August 10 in response to an injured officer and a wounded suspect.
Kunkel described how two sheriff deputies had responded to the address to handle a domestic disturbance call. As one deputy was getting out of his patrol unit, the suspect rushed from the darkened tree line with a machete and slashed both forearms of the 28-year-old officer who didn’t have time to draw his service weapon to defend himself.
The suspect was then shot three times by the injured deputy’s partner, the bullets hitting the suspect in the lower abdomen, his left leg, and his right elbow. More deputies arriving at the scene in response to the “officer down” call had applied tourniquets to both arms of the deputy to stop the flow of blood, which by this time had amounted to a loss of more than a quart.
The arriving paramedics also assisted the civilian ambulance crew in administering to the injured suspect who was suffering from internal bleeding. While the civilian ambulance transported the injured suspect to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, the firefighters accompanying them had to start an intravenous fluid drip on the individual because he had gone into shock while his blood pressure dropped because of internal bleeding and he was becoming unresponsive.
Because of those efforts the suspect survived to make it the hospital’s trauma unit and undergo abdominal surgery to save his life.
The tourniquets applied by the deputies along with the efforts of the paramedics and EMTs allowed the officer to survive, and he was released from the hospital a few days later. The deputy has to undergo rehabilitation and recovery for his damaged muscles, but he suffered no nerve damage.
The suspect underwent several surgeries but is alive and will face what comes next in the judicial system.
“Often we get caught up with personal feelings of good guy versus bad guy,” Kunkel said during the award ceremony. “The crew of Medic Engine 401 did not display any prejudice that evening. They treated their patients with professionalism and dignity regardless of extenuating circumstances. All of this displays the attitude and skillset that sets MCLB Fire and Emergency Services apart from the rest.”
“I’m proud of this organization because it strives for excellence,” Chief Paul Purdy told the audience. “We don’t settle for less. That’s why we are one of the frontrunners in the Marine Corps Fire and Emergency Services and the DoD. Our dedication to strive for excellence makes us who we are. We are the masters of our craft. We don’t have the luxury of making mistakes when it comes to saving lives.”
The firefighters themselves all talked of how they worked as a team with the other deputies and the civilian ambulance crew to make a difference and save lives.
“I realized this call might be different because it was a first responder who was injured,” Wymore said, “but we just did our job the way we were trained.”
There was some concern that that might be other unknown assailants at the scene, Hearons said.
“There were by that time three other deputies on the scene and they assured me there weren’t any other possible assailants. We were there to do a job and we did it,” he said.
Captain Robert Manz as the senior responder on the scene took control of the situation.
“My job is to make sure the scene is safe for my co-workers so that they can do what needs to be done. I took command and we did our job,” he said.
Shipe was concerned about the horrific nature of the machete wounds suffered by the deputy, but he did not let that keep him from doing what he had to do.
“I know the wound was pretty gnarly to the deputy, but we did what we were trained to do with my co-workers to save not only the deputy’s life but that of the alleged assailant,” he said.
While others may wonder if they really make a difference in peoples’ lives, Hearons said he and his co-workers have found a profession that really does affect the quality of life for the people they help.
Working as a member of a team composed of firefighters, civilian EMTs and law enforcement makes all the difference when they work toward a single goal, Shipe said.
“If we hadn’t pulled together and performed as a team, as we do in everything, it would not have turned out the way that it did,” he said.
“A kind of call like this justifies my feelings of why I went in to this field of work in the first place, to help people,” Wymore said.
“Exemplary actions in the face of extreme pressure is the result of superior training. I hold our firefighters and first responders in the highest regard for their discipline and calm under duress. We are fortunate to have such professionals watching over MCLB and protecting us all,” concluded Col. Craig C. Clemans, commander, MCLB Barstow.
| Date Taken: | 12.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2020 13:49 |
| Story ID: | 385342 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 216 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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