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Kadena school teacher thanks his military medical heroes

  • Published
  • By Maj. Dani Johnson
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNEWS) --  Many talk about heroes in their lives. For a Department of Defense Dependent Schools teacher here, his heroes wear camouflage and flight suits. He came to Kadena Air Base May 2 to thank those who saved his life a year ago.

For Jim Brierly, March 30, 2006, was a day his life would change forever, in part due to the men and women of the 18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 909th Air Refueling Squadron and the Western Pacific Critical Care Medical Attendant Team, as well as the Navy medical professionals at Navy Hospital-Okinawa.

He and his wife, Marite, were attending a festival near Marine Corps Camp Hansen when he realized he didn't feel well and couldn't drive. He approached the Marine gate guards at the camp and they called an ambulance. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital with chest pains and went into cardiac arrest shortly after arriving at the hospital.

"He came in with chest pains and went quickly down the tubes. We immediately had to start CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation)," said Navy Cmdr. (Dr.) Sharon Troxel, the head of the emergency department at the Navy hospital and lead for Mr. Brierly's resuscitation.

"The key to success is he nor we gave up," she said. "We gave him more than 30 minutes of CPR and 18 shocks, it's unusual to do that much for someone his age (now 57) and condition. He is a fighter and he showed us he was."

The fight was not over for Mr. Brierly, and the Air Force's Western Pacific Critical Care Medical Attendant Team, or CCMAT, was there to assist with the save.

"I got the call about 3 a.m. and was told we had a male with a major heart attack," said Maj. (Dr.) Dan Cole, the 18th Medical Operations Squadron medical services flight commander and CCMAT staff physician for pulmonary and critical care. "We took care of him on the ground and through the weekend. We were constantly on the phone back to the states because we determined he needed a balloon pump, and we didn't have the ability to put one in here."

Once it was determined by the doctors that the risk for aeromedical evacuation was worth it, Kadena AB officials went into action. One of the 18th Wing's mission is aeromedical evacuation, and many of its Airmen have CCMAT experience.

Within 24 hours, a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 909th ARS was configured for a medical evacuation, and the flight took off to Hawaii, where experts at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu were waiting.

"It was touch and go on the flight," said Capt. Jeannette Ward, an 18th AES flight nurse. "His oxygenation dropped dramatically three times, and it was up to us to decide if we continued on or if we turned back to Okinawa."

She said the pilots were asked to fly at lower altitudes and as fast as possible. 

"When the pilot, Capt. Dan Bradford, said we were more than halfway to Hawaii, I knew we couldn't turn back," she said. 

"I don't remember much ... just bits and pieces of the resuscitation, and the whole time I was thinking what can I do to show you I'm still alive," said Mr. Brierly, who teaches English as a second language at Kadena Elementary School.

While he and his wife have visited the hospital to thank the responders there, this was the first time he was able to thank the aeromedical team and aircrew at Kadena AB and listen to their stories of that mission.

For the medical team and aircrew, it is unusual for them to meet their patients after they survive.

"It's really rewarding to see him up and about and standing," Captain Bradford said. "It's rare we hear back from them, but this makes those long hours (9 to 10 hour flights) worth it."

For Mr. Brierly who has been with DODDs since 1980 and in Okinawa since 1992, he called March 30, 2006, his second birthday and said he feels like he is in heaven now.

"I can't tell you what it's like to meet these people. The warmth and gratitude for these servicemembers is overwhelming," he said. "I truly believe only the U.S. military could do something like this."

Each action performed in this rescue is called the "Chain of Survival" by the American Heart Association. For Mr. Brierly, the chain stretched more than 4,600 miles. Today, he lives a full life because of the men and women who wear camouflage and flight suits. 

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