Altus members provide lifesaving first response

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Eugene Bird
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AFB, Okla. --  What started as a routine drive home after work brought heroism from three employees of the 97th Air Mobility Wing on July 19. 

Just North of the airport on the outskirts of Vernon, Texas, Nurse Rhonda Garrett, 97th Medical Group; Carolyn Johnson, 97th MDG administrator and Gregory Johnson, 97th Maintenance Directorate saw what they first supposed was a dust devil.
 
Instead, it was the dust thrown by a 4 x 4 pickup truck, roof smashed and windows exploding as it rolled four times into a field, as one witness recounted. 

"Carolyn called 9-1-1 while Greg and I rushed to the pickup," said Miss Garrett. "There was a lady, unresponsive at the time, leaning against the window with one hand out the window and resting on the truck's roof. She had several cuts on her face so we applied pressure to stop the bleeding, and stablized her neck until the ambulance arrived," she said. 

The female victim was flown to Dallas, and emergency medical personnel praised the work of the three civilian Airmen. 

"I've seen accident victims after they were already strapped on a board with a neck brace on, but this was the first time I'd been in the role of first responder," said Nurse Garrett.