NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - A New York Air National Guard Airman who saved a 35-year-old man's life by administering CPR for 18 minutes will receive the Air Force Commendation Medal and the New York State Meritorious Service Medal during a ceremony here on Sunday, Dec. 6. Tech. Sgt. Jason Oehlbeck, a Webster resident, will be honored before 400 107th Airlift Wing members.
WHO: Tech. Sgt. Jason N. Oehlbeck (pronounced OL-BECK), a member of the New York Air National Guard's 107th Airlift Wing, and wing commander Col. Robert Kilgore, who will present the awards.
WHAT: Award of the Air Force Commendation Medal, a federal award presented to Airmen in recognition of meritorious service or heroic action, and the New York State Medal for Meritorious Service, a medal awarded to members of the New York Military Forces to recognize meritorious or heroic action. The awards recognize his quick thinking in saving the life of a fellow New Yorker.
WHEN: 12 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015. Media members must be at the Lockport Road Gate to the base at 11:30 a.m. for admittance to this secure military facility.
WHERE: Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, Lockport Road, Niagara Falls, New York.
Coverage Opportunities:
Reporters will be able to interview Oehlbeck and leaders of the 107th Airlift Wing. Video and still imagery opportunities include the formal medal presentation ceremony during a formation of wing personnel.
For access to this secure military facility members of the press must contact Capt. Lindsay Doak at (716) 236-3142 no later than 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 6.
Background:
Tech. Sgt. Jason Oehlbeck, a member of the 107th Airlift Wing's 136th Airlift Squadron, was attending a training class at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base and was in the Embassy Suites Hotel in East Syracuse, where he was living, on Oct. 27, 2015, when a 35-year-old man who was attending a training class in the hotel went into cardiac arrest. A hotel staffer asked for help and Oehlbeck instantly responded. He began administering CPR at 11 a.m. and continued until 11:18 a.m.
During this time, the young man regained and lost pulse three times, but Oehlbeck kept administering CPR.
According to the Embassy Suites General Manager Josh Belcher, "If it wasn't for Jason's continued effort and determination, this young man would not have survived until paramedics arrived. The paramedics were able to attach an AED and, after the second shock, the young man regained a steady pulse."
"Actions like this are not common in every man," Belcher said in an email. "As a prior military man myself, I know we are trained for such things, but still, not everyone has it in them to react when called upon. To see Jason react as quick as he did in a room full of people who did not is very special."
Oehlbeck is a traditional Air National Guard Airman who works at Harrison Corporation in Rochester, New York. He has served in the 107th Airlift Wing since 2007 as an aircraft electrician. He served in Kuwait in 2013.