Ohio National Guard News

 

Staff Sgt. Michael McQuillen

 

179th Airlift Wing Airman
saves man's life at swimming pool

Story by Lou Whitmire,
Mansfield News Journal
(Reprinted with permission)

 

Staff Sgt. Michael McQuillen


MANSFIELD, Ohio — Staff Sgt. Michael McQuillen of the 179th Airlift Wing, Ohio Air National Guard, recently proved an Airman is never off duty.

The Lucas, Ohio, man did not expect to use any of his training June 18. He was simply enjoying a day at the pool with friends at Eagle Point, in Mifflin, Ohio. Suddenly, someone shouted for help.

There was a lifeless man slumped in the pool.

The 26-year-old McQuillen reacted quickly, removing the victim from the water. The man was turning purple and was unresponsive without a pulse.

"He was pretty close to me, about five yards when they started hollering," he said.

McQuillen then began to perform CPR.

After receiving an initial response, he turned the victim on his side and allowed some water to escape. But the vital signs were still absent. As the man lay unconscious, McQuillen repeated CPR and managed to regain a pulse and signs of breathing, although the man remained unconscious.

The Airman then covered the man to keep him warm and monitored him until the rescue squad arrived to transport him to a hospital.

McQuillen said he never did anything like this and hopes he never has to again. It was just his second time at the pool.

"Afterward I was pretty shaky," he said.

A member of the 179th for eight years and a full-time federal technician for three years, McQuillen plans to make the Air National Guard his career.

A 2003 graduate of Madison Comprehensive High School, he enlisted at age 17.

McQuillen said he learned CPR at the base.

"If you get the chance, go take the training. I never expected to use it, but I'm glad I learned it," he said.

McQuillen said he hopes to meet the man he saved whom he knows only as "John."

Deputy Mifflin Fire Chief Fred Kauser reported the victim survived and was recovering well, according to 179th officials.

McQuillen and his wife, Elaine, have two dogs and horses.