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36th Rescue Flight secures save 662 -- Fairchild Airmen rescue SERE student

  • Published
  • By Scott King
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  A student attending the Survival Evasion Resistance Escape training course in the Colville National Forest, Wash., was rescued Tuesday after he went into anaphylactic shock following a bee sting.

The student, 1st Lt. Andrew Metzger, was practicing evasion techniques when he was stung.

Three Airmen responded to the call in a UH-1N Iroquois helicopter while one independent duty medical technician on the ground provided medical attention to Metzger.

The IDMT on the ground, Tech. Sgt. Joseph Brownell, was providing medical support for the students attending the SERE course and did not have enough medication to transport Metzger via-ground transportation because of the rough terrain, so he called for air support.

"We had to clear some small trees and move him to a suitable extraction zone," Brownell said. "We then placed ground-to-air signals and even with that we were hard to see from the ground - to say the least, this made the rescue even more challenging. Due to the denseness of the vegetation, I had to then talk the crew to our exact location."

Once the helicopter arrived overhead, the flight engineer, Tech. Sgt. Steven Perez, lowered a Stokes litter 210 feet down to retrieve Metzger. Following that, Brownell was hoisted into the aircraft and they flew to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., where he was stabilized and is now doing fine.

"I am extremely grateful for my fellow students and rescue crew who helped me through this," Metzger said. "Without the fast speed at which I was evacuated, I don't know how I'd be right now - it's pretty safe to say they saved my life."

The other two Airmen who were aboard the helicopter were: pilot, Capt. Stephen Jones and co-pilot, Capt. Lauren Robillard.

Brownell has been involved in more than a dozen rescues of disabled, injured and lost people in Washington and Idaho over his years stationed at Fairchild.

"It's always good to know that what we do helps to ensure that people who find themselves in trouble get to go home to their families safe and sound," Brownell said. "I'm glad we were once again able to answer the call to help someone out."