Saved A Man’s Life, Didn’t Think Much Of It

Tech. Sgt. Ryan Ewing’s primary job in the Kansas National Guard is a boom operator in a KC-135 refueling jet, but it was the medical skills he learned in the Guard that surely came in handy when he saved a man’s life.

Ewing, a member of the Guard for eight years, was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for annual simulation training at General Mitchell Air Force Base and was heading out of his hotel to meet his crew for dinner and baseball. He heard a yell from the hotel lobby.

He said, “I was coming down the elevator to head to dinner and the baseball game with my crew and I heard a shout from the other side of the wall. I looked around the corner and saw a man on the ground. I walked over and didn’t feel a pulse and he wasn’t breathing.”

Ewing earned his initial EMT and CPR training in the Guard, and his reaction came automatically.

“I can thank the military for helping me get my initial EMT and CPR training that I have continued to utilize in the civilian sector as a firefighter. I started CPR. The hotel luckily had an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) and we were able to use it on the patient,” said Ewing.

He added, “I didn’t say much about it because this happens often in the fire service, so this isn’t something out of the ordinary for me,”

 Although he didn’t think much about it, his actions did not go unnoticed. On September 26, Maj. Gen. Michael Venerdi, presented the Kansas Medal of Excellence. Ewing for his lifesaving actions.

 Col. Wes Broxterman, commander, 190th Operations Group said, “Technical Sergeant Ewing’s heroic actions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, demonstrate the very best of the Air Force Core Value. By putting the needs of another before his own and taking swift action to save a life, he has shown that he is not only an exceptional boom operator, but a guardian of our community and a true embodiment of the values we hold dear.”

FMI:  www.nationalguard.mil/