DALLAS — Two United States Marines were recognized Monday for life-saving actions to help a man suffering a medical emergency at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) last month.
Captain Steven M. Maire and Captain Joseph H. Carey were awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal by the 15th MEU’s commanding officer, Colonel Sean Dynan, in front of about 200 Marines and Sailors in California.
The pair's efforts helped save a man's life after he collapsed at the ticketing counter at DFW on May 23.
The Marines said they realized the man was not breathing and determined he was likely suffering from a heart attack.
“He was unresponsive and not breathing for long enough that he started turning blue,” Carey said, describing the man’s face and lips.
Maire said Carey began cardiopulmonary resuscitation chest compressions while the man’s wife gave rescue breaths.
“He had a very weak pulse, so when they brought over the defibrillator, I immediately hooked the leads up to his chest to use it," Maire said.
Once the public was cleared away from the area, Maire tried to shock the man’s heart back to a regular rhythm. The man started to slowly regain consciousness after a second chock and more CPR compressions.
“Once we discharged the defibrillator, he started to become responsive again, his pupils came back in, and he started breathing,” Maire said.
Parademics eventually arrived at the terminal to take care of the recovering man.
“When he came back, that was a huge relief,” Carey said. “It was just great to see what we did worked.”
Last week, four US Customs and Border Protection officers were honored for their heroic efforts to save a heart attack victim's life at DFW Airport.
