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CAMP GEIGER, N.C. - The morning of May 26, 2013 started like any
other day for Sgt. Kirby D. Kuhn and Sgt. William P. Goodacre,
Company F, Combat Training Battalion, School of Infantry – East
combat instructors. They brushed their teeth. Put their uniforms on.
Then, headed to work to train the Marines freshly graduated from
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., in advanced weapons
techniques.
As their platoon finished its practical application exam of the
M203 grenade launcher, Goodacre walked behind the formation. He
heard a choking sound as one of his Marines fell to the deck aboard
Camp Geiger, a satellite base of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C
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Sgt. Kirby D. Kuhn and Sgt. William P. Goodacre, combat instructors with Company F, Combat Training Battalion, School of Infantry - East, receive Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals during an awards ceremony aboard Camp Geiger, a satellite base of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., June 17,
2013. Kuhn and Goodacre performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation to a student Marine who stopped breathing during a M203 grenade launcher practical application exam, May 26,
2013. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Charles Clark)
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“As soon as that happened, I ran over there and told all
the students to look forward and said for a fellow
instructor to get the students out of there and around the
corner from where we were and to call 911,” Goodacre said.
“It looked like she was seizing so I tilted her onto her
side and yelled for a corpsman.”
The young Marine
stopped breathing.
Kuhn ran over to help Goodacre get
the student Marine to breathe again.
“When I ran
over, Goodacre had a female Marine on her side because
that's what you are suppose to do when the victim is
seizing,” Kuhn said. “She was blue, very blue, and her lips
were purple. We decided immediately to perform
cardiopulmonary resuscitation.”
The combat
instructors take CPR classes and teach their Marines basic
life saving skills during the training cycle.
Staff
Sgt. Juanita C. Towns, a fellow combat instructor, followed
Kuhn to the fallen Marine and helped the other rescuers put
her on her back. She began doing chest compressions while
Kuhn began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by way of the
tilt-head chin-lift method. Kuhn attempted to clear the
Marine's airway by closing her nostrils and breathing twice
into her mouth every 30 compressions while Goodacre checked
the Marine's pulse.
“After a few tries, it sounded
like she was snoring,” Kuhn said. “We tried to wake her up,
but her eyes were still rolled into the back of her head.
After about a minute of her doing the snoring thing, she
started seizing again.”
The combat instructors could
tell the Marine was not breathing again and continued CPR.
“When I tried to do the tilt-head chin-lift method, her
jaw was locked, and I couldn't get her mouth open,” Kuhn
said.
“Goodacre massaged her jaw with his knuckles
and managed to get her mouth open. Towns sacrificed her
fingers to hold the Marine's mouth open so I could perform
the breathing resuscitation again.”
Kuhn and Staff
Sgt. Michael A. Poklembo, the primary instructor during the
M203 practical application, attempted to clear her airway,
but were unable to.
“She stopped breathing again, so
I started compressions again and Towns held her mouth open,”
Goodacre said. “After about five compressions she started
breathing again.”
Kuhn added after those
compressions, her eyes were alert and looking around, but
still unresponsive. The emergency medical team then arrived
to get the Marine to the hospital.
“I thought that
Marine was going to die. During the whole compressions and
CPR, there was this somberness in the air,” Kuhn said. “But,
she came back. She's alive now because we did what we had to
do. It's our jobs as combat instructors to ensure our
student's welfare. To me, we were just doing our job.”
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Sgt. Kirby D. Kuhn and Sgt. William P. Goodacre, combat
instructors with Company F, Combat Training Battalion, School of
Infantry - East, receive applause from their chain of command,
fellow combat instructors and students after receiving Navy and
Marine Corps Achievement Medals during an awards ceremony aboard
Camp Geiger, a satellite base of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune,
N.C., June 17. Kuhn and Goodacre used their training to get a Marine
who started seizing to breathe again. Their efforts saved her life
during a M203 grenade launcher practical application exam, May 26,
2013. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Charles Clark)
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The combat instructors adapted to the situation and
overcame the obstacles preventing their Marine from
breathing and saved her life.
“My first thought that
morning was ‘Today is going to be a good day,'” said Kuhn.
For their actions, Kuhn and Goodacre received
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals during a ceremony
in front of their students, June 17, 2013.
By USMC Cpl. Charles Clark
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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