thedrifter
08-14-07, 07:26 AM
Marine comes to rescue - Volunteer helps unconscious runner in race
By Jayna Boyle
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The quick response of a Marine volunteering Sunday at the Wool Capital Triathlon in San Angelo helped get a collapsed runner the medical attention he needed.
Marine Pfc. Andrew Einstein said he was handing out water and Gatorade at a checkpoint during the third portion of the competition when an approaching runner said a man was down. Einstein ran to the man and determined that he was unconscious but had a pulse.
Because of the man’s condition, Einstein performed rescue breathing on him and, with the help of about four other Marines, was able to get him into the back of a stakebed pickup truck and take him to emergency medical technicians and an ambulance stationed at the triathlon.
The man, Stephen Elder, 25, was taken to San Angelo Community Medical Center and is in good condition, said Rebecka Zemlock, a hospital spokeswoman. She said Elder hopes to be released today.
A family member said Monday that Elder was not yet ready to talk about his experience the day before.
Jesse Rodriguez, a San Angelo firefighter paramedic who was at the triathlon, said Einstein’s assessment of Elder saved valuable time.
“Without those rescue breaths,” Rodriguez said, “it could have been a different outcome.”
The triathlon, at Middle Concho Park at Lake Nasworthy, featured about 110 competitors in a swim of 1,500 meters in the Concho River, a 24.6-mile bicycle ride toward Knickerbocker and a 6.2-mile run on a dirt road.
Einstein was one of about 35 Marines who volunteered at the event. Before joining the Marines in January, he trained to be a firefighter paramedic.
“It’s all part of what I was trained to do,” Einstein said of his assessment of Elder. “I’ve dealt with situations like this in the past. I just do what I have to do.”
Einstein, who has been in San Angelo since May, is specializing in crash, fire and rescue with the Department of Defense Fire Academy at Goodfellow Air Force Base. He hails from Mount Laurel, N.J.
Jack Weiss, who organized the competition, said Elder collapsed between 10:45 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The National Weather Service in San Angelo reports that the temperature at 11 a.m. Sunday at nearby Mathis Field was 87 degrees. The triathlon began at 7:30 a.m., and by 8 a.m. the temperature was 71 degrees.
Rodriguez said an emergency room doctor also was on scene with paramedics, and together, the medical experts concluded that Elder’s collapse probably was caused by heat.
Ellie
By Jayna Boyle
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
The quick response of a Marine volunteering Sunday at the Wool Capital Triathlon in San Angelo helped get a collapsed runner the medical attention he needed.
Marine Pfc. Andrew Einstein said he was handing out water and Gatorade at a checkpoint during the third portion of the competition when an approaching runner said a man was down. Einstein ran to the man and determined that he was unconscious but had a pulse.
Because of the man’s condition, Einstein performed rescue breathing on him and, with the help of about four other Marines, was able to get him into the back of a stakebed pickup truck and take him to emergency medical technicians and an ambulance stationed at the triathlon.
The man, Stephen Elder, 25, was taken to San Angelo Community Medical Center and is in good condition, said Rebecka Zemlock, a hospital spokeswoman. She said Elder hopes to be released today.
A family member said Monday that Elder was not yet ready to talk about his experience the day before.
Jesse Rodriguez, a San Angelo firefighter paramedic who was at the triathlon, said Einstein’s assessment of Elder saved valuable time.
“Without those rescue breaths,” Rodriguez said, “it could have been a different outcome.”
The triathlon, at Middle Concho Park at Lake Nasworthy, featured about 110 competitors in a swim of 1,500 meters in the Concho River, a 24.6-mile bicycle ride toward Knickerbocker and a 6.2-mile run on a dirt road.
Einstein was one of about 35 Marines who volunteered at the event. Before joining the Marines in January, he trained to be a firefighter paramedic.
“It’s all part of what I was trained to do,” Einstein said of his assessment of Elder. “I’ve dealt with situations like this in the past. I just do what I have to do.”
Einstein, who has been in San Angelo since May, is specializing in crash, fire and rescue with the Department of Defense Fire Academy at Goodfellow Air Force Base. He hails from Mount Laurel, N.J.
Jack Weiss, who organized the competition, said Elder collapsed between 10:45 a.m. and 11 a.m.
The National Weather Service in San Angelo reports that the temperature at 11 a.m. Sunday at nearby Mathis Field was 87 degrees. The triathlon began at 7:30 a.m., and by 8 a.m. the temperature was 71 degrees.
Rodriguez said an emergency room doctor also was on scene with paramedics, and together, the medical experts concluded that Elder’s collapse probably was caused by heat.
Ellie