Fairchild medics care for critically injured man Published July 19, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Connie L. Bias 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Two Airmen who serve as medics at the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School here were able to utilize their skills Wednesday morning when they encountered a car wreck while en route to a training event. Tech. Sgt. John Parish and Staff Sgt. George Gonzalez provided life-saving medical care for a man who was caught in a car rollover near the intersection of Highway 2 and Highway 211 north of Spokane. The pair, along with six Airmen riding with them, came upon the wreck at approximately 7:45 a.m. and spent more than 30 minutes caring for the critically injured patient while waiting for evacuation services to arrive. Civilian fire fighters, state police and the local sheriff department were already on site, surveying the rolled vehicle and conscious victim, who was lying on the inverted car roof. As the most highly trained medics on scene, the Airmen surveyed the emergency and took charge of the medical care. "Sergeant Gonzalez and I both had to take a moment - it was a lot to take in," said Sergeant Parish. "When we realized he was still alive, we got busy." After local fire fighters pried the driver-side door open, the Airmen immediately started mobilizing the patient's head and applied a c-collar for neck and spine stabilization. They also worked with the civilian teams to start caring for the patient. "He was obviously in a bad way; our guys had to work very slowly and carefully," said Capt. Cameron Clement, the Airmen's officer-in-charge. "It was fortuitous that we had medics on scene with all of their advanced life support gear." The other Airmen, who serve as SERE specialists, also offered critical life support throughout the incident. They worked continuously to hold the patient's head during extrication, moved the man from the car to a backboard for transport, and helped secure the patient for helicopter evacuation to a Spokane hospital. "These guys were awesome. We really needed all those hands for the inline immobilization, and they worked seamlessly," said Sergeant Parish. Sergeant Parish and Sergeant Gonzalez are independent-duty medical technicians assigned to the 336th Training Support Squadron. The other Airmen who assisted were: Staff Sgt. John Conant Senior Airman Travis Mooney Staff Sgt. Vincent Girolami Senior Airman Lance Kleece Airman 1st Class Jason Penrod Airman 1st Class Adam Murphy
