Drill sergeant's quick thinking saves life of 1st Brigade trainee

[Hannibal]

The quick thinking and instincts of two drill sergeants saved the life of a Fort Knox Soldier May 3. Pvt. Desmond Harris, a trainee with Company A of the 2nd Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Training Brigade, returned to the barracks from lunch and began suffering from extreme chest pain.

"I remember coming into my bay and getting my rucksack and I had a sharp, bad pain come into my chest," said Harris.

"I told one of my battle buddies my chest was hurting, and he asked me did I want him to go get anybody. I told him no."

Harris said the pain became sharper, so his battle buddy sought out an "insert," a prior service Soldier retraining for a new job.

"The insert came in and told me to sit on the floor, I told him no, I need to stay standing up, so he pushed me down and made me sit on the floor," Harris said.

He said the pain kept getting worse and became excruciating.

Some of his fellow trainees were sent to get help, which came in the form of Drill Sgt. (Staff Sgt.) Daniel Martinez, who was in his office because he had chosen not to eat lunch that day.

"They said that Pvt. Harris was having another seizure. He'd had some complications before at the Dental Clinic and at (the) Reception (Station), so I was aware that there might have been a problem with him. I hurried downstairs.

"At the time he wasn't having a seizure, he was having a lot of chest pain, grasping at his chest so hard and rolling on the ground that even his hand would cramp up from grasping his chest."

Martinez said he cleared all the privates out of the bay.

"At that point I was just trying to calm him down," he said. "I instructed one of the inserts to call 911."

The Soldier instructed to call 911 was given the important information and a description of the symptoms.

Martinez said he believed Drill Sgt. (Staff Sgt.) Charles Wooten placed a second call to 911 after confusion over whether the first call was acknowledged and help was on the way.

"I kept hollering down the hall to see if they got through or what the status was," Martinez said.

Martinez remained by Harris' side.

"I was by myself with him," he said, "then he did have a seizure. That's when I hollered for one of the battle buddies. I didn't try to control (the seizure), I just made sure once again that he didn't roll into anything."

When Wooten arrived to assist, Harris' seizure had stopped, but so had his breathing and heartbeat.

"I checked for breathing,'' said Martinez. ‘‘I was already at his head, so I told Drill Sgt. Wooten to check for a pulse. He checked all around his neck a couple times, didn't find anything, and just instinct kicked in.

‘‘He automatically straddled the private and started the chest compressions, and we just fell in together. As soon as he did five compressions, I gave the Soldier two (mouth to mouth) breaths. Prior to that I had tried to give him breaths. One of them didn't take and one the Soldier did take, but he didn't come to.

‘‘Then during the second set of breaths after the compressions, the Soldier took the first one, and then the second one is when he actually started to come to.

"When he came to he started gasping for air, but he was doing it on his own. He still had a lot of pain, but he was better off than he was before the seizure. It was about that point where the (emergency services personnel) came in."

"After that I just remember my collar and my chest was hurting," Harris said. "I remember somebody asked me my name and how old I was after that."

Harris is undergoing a battery of cardiology tests, blood work, and x-rays to determine what happened, and whether he is fit for duty.

"They just tell me that the left side of my heart is swollen and it has a knot on the side of it," he said.

He's doing all right," said Martinez. "He's pretty much not doing anything physical until we get a better diagnosis. Bottom line is they have to diagnose him and see if he really needs to be here."

"I feel fine," said Harris. "I try not to be scared and panic."

And how does Harris feel about what Martinez did?

"I am just thankful he was there," he said.

[The_Federalist]

Outstanding!

Hope that private fully recovers.

[barron]

"super Job Drill"!:d

[tmomof4nuts]

thats amazing

[Bluehawk]

Glad somebody was around, and calm, at the time.

[SwampTanker]

Great story with a great ending. Good stuff.

[Enrage]

I was in this company. DS Martinez was my platoon's senior drill sergeant. Too say I was impressed with my drill sergeants was an understatement. They were always professional, honorable, caring, and tough. They were exactly what NCOs should be. Now I'm in ROTC and when I'm a platoon leader, I will know what kind of standards to set for my NCOs.