Navy Doc Gives Lifesaving CPR in Japan
Story Number: NNS021101-07
Release Date: 11/1/2002 10:29:00 AM
By Bill Doughty, U. S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka Public Affairs
YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- In the waning days of summer, a Navy physician and her Navy lawyer husband on a seacoast bike ride came upon a lifesaving emergency – a jet ski accident with two victims, one of whom was unconscious and not breathing.
What sounds like an episode of TV’s popular “JAG” was actually a real-life incident several weeks ago at Miura Kaigan Beach near Yokosuka, Japan.
Lt. Jacqueline Jones is a general medical officer assigned to the emergency room at U. S. Naval Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan. She and her husband, Lt. Thomas Jones, legal assistance division officer at Yokosuka’s Navy Legal Service Office, came to the aid of a local resident, administering CPR and summoning an ambulance.
Dr. Jones ran to the crowd gathered on the beach. People on the scene were not properly administering CPR. They were pushing on her chest and breathing into her mouth, but they were also slapping her face and pushing on her stomach.
“I identified myself as a doctor by saying ‘isha’ in Japanese,” said Dr. Jones. The crowd acknowledged by nodding and saying ‘doctor’ in English.
“The woman was unresponsive, was not breathing spontaneously and did not have a pulse. I initiated CPR and started performing chest compressions,” Jones said.
Amazingly, none of the bystanders had yet called an ambulance.
Her husband ran up to the highway into a shop. Not knowing the Japanese word for ambulance (“kyu-kyu-sha”), he made some siren noises and motioned to make a call.
”When I returned to the beach, the girl was still not responding and Jackie continued chest compressions while another Japanese man was administering breathing,” said Jones.
“Many of the girl's friends in the crowd were obviously in a state of panic, and other bystanders and myself had to remove the friends from clinging to the victim’s body. After minutes of CPR, the girl started vomiting and coughing (which Jackie took the brunt of),” said Jones.
“The girl also started strained breathing, at which time Jackie turned her over onto her side in a recovery position." She was then breathing on her own and had a pulse.
Lt. Thomas Jones concludes, “After what I estimate to be about 15 minutes of CPR, the ambulance finally showed.”
The patient was taken to a Japanese hospital. Healthcare providers acknowledged she would not have had a chance without the Jones’s intervention. According to the JAG officer, Dr. Jones made a heroic effort.
“Jackie was truly amazing and I am very proud of her professionalism and bravery,” said Lt. Thomas Jones. “She calmly controlled the situation and surely saved this girl's life.”
Dr. Jones will receive a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal in early November for her lifesaving initiative.
For related news, visit the U. S. Naval Hospital, Yokosuka, Japan Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/nhyoko.