Three airmen are being lauded for their quick response after a local woman jumped off a bridge while U.S. troops were participating in an exercise in Panama.
Master. Sgt. Reina Blake, Senior Airman Ariel Thomas and Office of Special Investigations Agent Alexandra Garced were in Meteti, Panama, in early May as part of Exercise New Horizons 2018, according to a U.S. Southern Command news release.
The three were on their way back to their hotel May 2, after spending the day helping with local construction projects, when they saw a crowd looking over the side of a bridge.
Roughly 30 feet below, a woman lay on her back, injured, according to SOUTHCOM.
Locals told the airmen the woman was drunk and had jumped off the bridge. Thomas, a medical technician, immediately led the three down to help.
She stabilized the injured woman’s neck and they moved the at-times belligerent and verbally abusive woman onto her side so she wouldn’t choke on her own vomit.
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The airmen talked to the woman and tried to keep her calm, according to SOUTHCOM. Blake, who speaks Spanish, served as a translator.
An ambulance arrived about 40 minutes later and transported the woman to an area hospital.
Thomas said she is not normally a first responder, but that her training kicked in when needed, according to SOUTHCOM.
“I am glad we were there when she started puking, because we were able to turn her on her side, otherwise she could have aspirated,” Thomas said.
Garced said it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
“If we had been there too late, she could’ve choked,” she said. “If we had been there too early, we wouldn’t have even noticed a crowd, which is what sparked our attention in the first place.”
Col. Darren Ewing, head of the 346th Air Expeditionary Group, praised the airmen.
“I am so proud to have these outstanding individuals on our team,” he said in the SOUTHCOM release. “These situations are exactly why we train how we do, and thanks to their courage and training, they saved a life.”
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
