Grissom NCO assists rescue efforts Published Sept. 13, 2006 By SrA Ben Mota 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind -- Seeing a parachute in the sky with an aircraft dangling from it isn't a common site anywhere, but that's exactly what Master Sgt. Robert Summers saw from his Indianapolis residence recently. Sergeant Summers, the assistant NCOIC of occupational physicals, watched as the aircraft crashed into a retention pond behind his house. As soon as he saw the single engine Cirrus SR22 hit the water his medical training immediately went into effect. There were other people in the area who had already begun to rescue the four passengers in the water, so Sergeant Summers waited on shore to assist with cardio pulmonary resuscitation. The first person pulled out of the aircraft was in desperate need of CPR, he said. He began assisting a nurse by giving chest compressions. After about two cycles of CPR the pilot began to breathe, he said. "I could see his chest rising and falling, and I felt a pulse," the registered emergency medical technician said. "I never thought I'd use my military medical training in a situation outside of work." Despite his life saving measures, the pilot succumbed to injuries about four hours later at a local hospital. The three other passengers in the aircraft were treated at local hospitals for non-life threatening injuries. "I wished that he would have survived," the medic said. "Hopefully his family members were able to see him alive one last time due to [our] efforts.
