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Is there a dentist in the house?

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Kimberly Spencer
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNEWS) --  Most people have some trepidation about seeing the dentist, but when Bud Martinez suffered a heart attack at a local fitness center, a dentist was the life saver. 

"I don't remember much," said the retired major Mr. Martinez.  "I had just finished a vigorous spin class and was outside the room talking with a friend.

"Suddenly, I felt dizzy and went down. I was out before my head hit the floor."  

Fortunately, Amber Webb, the wife of an Air Force dentist Capt. (Dr.) David Webb was nearby and ran for her husband telling him, "A man is down and they're calling 911. He needs help!" 

Captain Webb ran over to see what he could do.

"I saw a man lying motionless on the ground," Captain Webb said. "I called for someone to get an Automatic External Defibrillator and was relieved to see a gym trainer had one already there. A friend of the man was attempting chest compressions, but was performing them incorrectly."

Major Webb took control of the situation. After checking for a pulse and finding none, he gave the man 30 chest compressions and two breaths.

"I tried chest compressions and breaths once more; still there was no pulse," Captain Webb said.

He then used the AED to perform a rhythm analyzation and a shock was advised.

"We defibrillated him and it was amazing to see how much his body contorted when we did so," the dentist said.

Captain Webb performed more chest compressions and breaths and slowly the man began to show some minor facial movements.

"I watched as the person's facial color changed from a dusky purple, hypoxic appearance to a more pale color as I performed the breaths and compressions," he said.

"I also wondered to myself what would happen if I wasn't going to be able to revive him. I was praying the entire time," the captain said.

It wasn't until after Mr. Martinez regained consciousness that Captain Webb finally learned his name.

Emergency medical personnel came and rolled the now conscious, but very ill, retiree away.

"I was told that I had no pulse and had basically died!" Mr. Martinez said. "I don't remember much. All I know is that because of Major Webb's actions I am alive today."

An existing heart condition was the cause of Mr. Martinez's heart attack. He had undergone a quadruple bypass in April 2000.

"One of the bypasses had stopped working," Mr. Martinez said.

After his heart attack, triple bypass surgery was performed on Mr. Martinez and a defibrillator was inserted into his chest Nov. 24. Following surgery he was released to go home and recuperate.

The fully recovered retiree, his wife, Joyce, and Captain Webb reunited Feb. 16 at Dunn Dental Clinic on Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Captain Webb is assigned to the 59th Medical Wing and is practicing general dentistry at Kelly Dental Clinic. In June he will begin his Oral Maxillofacial Surgery residency at Wilford Hall Medical Center.

"I am truly grateful to Dr. Webb and his wife, they are quality people and a credit to the Air Force and the San Antonio community," Mr. Martinez said.

"It was a miraculous experience," Captain Webb said. "I am so grateful to have been doing the right thing, at the right place, at the right time."

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