Remembering to Breathe

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Being thrown into an emergency can be frightening and confusing, especially when a person’s life is at risk. That is something U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Thomas Zandate, a recruiter out of Recruiting Substation Pomona, Recruiting Station Riverside, 12th Marine Corps District, can tell you firsthand when he noticed a man in need of medical attention. On February 20, 2020, Zandate’s heroic actions saved a man’s life in a parking lot off of Rio Rancho Rd. in Pomona, Calif.

200221-M-JQ686-001.JPG Photo By: Story by Sgt. Juan Madrigal - 12th Marine Corps District

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Remembering to Breathe

Feb 26, 2020

Marine Corps Recruit depot, San Diego, California - RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Being thrown into an emergency can be frightening and confusing, especially when a person’s life is at risk. That is something U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Thomas Zandate, a recruiter out of Recruiting Substation Pomona, Recruiting Station Riverside, 12th Marine Corps District, can tell you firsthand when he noticed a man in need of medical attention. On February 20, 2020, Zandate’s heroic actions saved a man’s life in a parking lot off of Rio Rancho Rd. in Pomona, Calif. That Thursday afternoon was like any other for the Marines at RSS Pomona, talking to individuals about the Marine Corps and discussing their goals and aspirations. Zandate was on his way back to the RSS to speak to Manuel Corrales, an individual that is aspiring to become a Marine. Corrales was waiting outside the office when Zandate arrived. “I went on to continue chest compressions,” said Zandate. “This had to be going on for maybe four or five minutes then about halfway through one of my repetitions the nurse starts checking his pulse and saying, ‘we’re losing him, his eyes are turning blue and black we might lose him, they’re going to call it.’ “By call it, she meant the first responders were going it call it, she said just stop and that they’re going to call it. I was about halfway through my compressions and in my head, I just knew I had to do 30, so I kept doing them, and towards the end, his mouth was moving and it sounded like a snore. That’s when I continued the chest compressions until the snore became a breath. I told him to focus on my voice and focus on your breathing, don’t worry about anything else.” “He was blue and his pupils were dilated but then all of a sudden, he was breathing,” said Corrales. “If Zandate wasn’t there, that man could have died. He was in the right place at the right time and his training kicked in.” Read the full story below. https://www.dvidshub.net/news/363891/remembering-breathe?fbclid=IwAR1IWbE57y

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