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Training kicks in for Tinker sergeant

  • Published
  • By Kimberly Woodruff
  • Tinker Public Affairs
Middle of the night calls to security forces are rarely good.

That was the case April 1, when the Base Defense Operations Center received a call at 3:30 a.m. after someone heard what they thought was a vehicle crash near the Tinker Gate off Air Depot Boulevard.

Tech. Sgt. Brian Morgan of the 72nd Security Forces Squadron responded to the area on the east side of the Tinker Golf Course and found a man in his Chevy Trail Blazer, unconscious and bleeding following a crash through 51 feet of steel gauge fencing. The vehicle came from the ramp off Interstate 40, careened through the fence and came to an abrupt halt at the base of a tree on hole No. 13.

The man didn't have a pulse, so Sergeant Morgan performed CPR and stabilized him until the ambulance arrived. The man stopped breathing twice and lost a pulse, but Sergeant Morgan kept up with CPR. The victim was alive when the ambulance took him away.

"I don't consider myself a hero at all. I was doing the job I was trained to do," said Sergeant Morgan. "I can't say what I felt at the time. The training just kicked in and I did what I had to do."

The Self-Aid Buddy Care training security forces officers go through is a bi-annual requirement. SABC is basic life-saving skills that can be as simple as a applying a Band-Aid or as complex as applying a tourniquet, depending on the extent of the injury.

Staff Sgt. Jason Morrill, 72nd Security Forces Training Instructor, said SABC "basically teaches people how to stabilize the victim until a medical team arrives." He said CPR training is a voluntary training that anyone can choose to do.

Master Sgt. Paul Barentine, who is Sergeant Morgan's supervisor, said this isn't the first time the sergeant has saved a life. "A few years ago he ran into a burning home and saved a child," said Sergeant Barentine.

Sergeant Morgan is retiring soon and it is a real loss for the Air Force, said Sergeant Barentine.

"Sergeant Morgan is the guy you can depend on," Sergeant Barentine said. "I know I can always count on him for anything from a bloody 911 call to counseling an Airman. He's not only an outstanding Airman, he's an outstanding guy."