GLENDALE, AZ — Two Luke Air Force Base Airmen are being credited with helping save the life of a military veteran after he suffered a cardiac arrest while golfing at Falcon Dunes Golf Course.
Capt. Max Sarver and Senior Airman Wyatt Lupien, assigned to the Operational Medical Readiness Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, were playing golf July 19 when they noticed nearby golfers urgently calling for assistance, according to an article published on Luke Air Force Base's official website.
The two found an unconscious veteran on the course and immediately began providing emergency medical care while others at the scene sought additional help.
Lupien took over chest compressions after determining the CPR being performed by a bystander was ineffective, while Sarver managed the veteran's airway and monitored the patient's condition, according to the Air Force article.
Golf course employees soon arrived with an automated external defibrillator, or AED, which the Airmen used to deliver a potentially lifesaving shock before continuing CPR until emergency responders arrived.
Firefighters reached the scene roughly eight minutes after the Airmen began treating the veteran and transported the patient to a local intensive care unit. The veteran survived, and the Airmen later learned their rapid intervention significantly improved his chances of recovery, according to the Luke Air Force Base article.
In the official Air Force story, Lupien said his response was driven by relying on the training he had practiced repeatedly.
"You kind of empty your mind and go back to what you've practiced," Lupien said in the article. "I had just taken basic life support training earlier this year."
Although both Airmen work in the base's optometry clinic, they said the emergency unfolded exactly as they had trained for through the Air Force's Basic Life Support and Tactical Combat Casualty Care programs.
"Commit to your training," Lupien said in the official Luke Air Force Base article. "That's the only reason I felt as comfortable as I did taking charge of the scene."
Sarver also credited Lupien's immediate response and said the pair relied on their military medical training throughout the emergency.
"(Lupien) jumped right on it with no hesitation whatsoever," Sarver said in the article. "He was doing exactly what his training prepared him to do."
Reflecting on the incident, Sarver said he believes the timing of their presence on the golf course proved critical.
"If we weren't there, I don't think that man would have survived," Sarver said in the Luke Air Force Base article. "We were at the right place at the right time."
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