Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate George “Adam” Musgrove had taken a Red Cross CPR refresher course the week before his Annual Training (AT) orders started November 4, 2020.
As he grabbed his seabag on his way out of Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport on the way to begin training with Submarine Squadron 11 at Point Loma, San Diego, he never could have known he’d put his recertification to use so quickly.
Walking from the tarmac up the ramp and into the airport terminal for his connecting flight, Musgrove heard a woman cry out in distress. He spun quickly around to see a man in a pilot’s uniform laying on the ground.
Musgrove said he took action immediately.
“I get down on the ground and I start assessing him and checking him over and he’s taking some really heavy, deep gasps, and then he just stops breathing,” said the 43 year-old Musgrove, who serves as the Chelan County, Washington, Chief of Patrol in his civilian law enforcement career.
Musgrove checked for a pulse and quickly determined the man needed CPR. He performed chest compressions for 5-6 minutes alongside a woman, who also knelt down to help. The pair continued performing chest compressions until an airline employee brought out an automated external defibrillator (AED).
“One of the airline employees dropped an AED right next to us,” said Musgrove. “I pulled [the pilot’s] jacket open and ripped his shirt, and we put the AED on him. We energized it and shocked him, and he immediately goes to take a deep breath and then stops breathing again.”
The pair immediately went into performing more chest compressions for a few tense minutes.
“We gave him a few rescue breaths,” said Musgrove, “and then he started breathing again. That was probably about six or seven minutes into it.”
Aid crews arrived shortly thereafter and took the man away for medical treatment. While Musgrove said he never got a full update on the man’s condition, a subsequent phone call from San Diego to Seattle provided some encouraging news.
“I got down to San Diego and I called back up to the airport and they connected me over to the battalion chief from the fire department,” said Musgrove. “And he says ‘I can't give you all of the details, but just know that when we loaded him up and put him into the ambulance, he was talking.’ I’m glad I could be there to help out.”
As a SELRES Sailor, Musgrove serves as the senior enlisted leader for Naval Reserve SSGN Continuous Maintenance Availability Pacific (CMAV) out of Bangor, Washington.
Administratively attached to NOSC Kitsap, his command is an expeditionary maintenance unit with a primary mission to work on the guided missile submarines USS Ohio (SSGN-726) and USS Michigan (SSGN-727).
A key element of the Navy's fighting force, the SSGN features tremendous payload capacity, dual crew deployment, and inherent stealth. Each SSGN brings mission flexibility and enhanced capabilities to the warfighter, something Musgrove and his team routinely support in the growing global playing field of the Great Power Competition.
“I started a program several years ago called the SMART program,” said Musgrove. “It’s designed to utilize our Reserve Sailors from the expeditionary maintenance units. We provide an opportunity for those Reservists from across the country to come out and work on fast attack submarines when they’re in their shipyard periods. We provide needed maintenance with some of these Reservists who go out and alleviate the workload.”
Musgrove said a fleeting thought occurred to him during his recertification course, one made more profound after the events of that fateful fall day at the Seattle airport.
“When I was taking the CPR refresher course, for a moment I actually thought to myself, ‘I’ve never had to use this before,” said Musgrove. “Sure enough, the very next week — boom.”
The senior chief offered some valuable experiential advice for every Sailor to consider.
“I will tell you one thing. Just make sure that you're taking every bit of training seriously,” he said. “I have almost 25 years in the Navy and this was the first time I’d ever had to use my CPR training. Absolutely take it seriously, because you just never know when you'll be put into a position where you will have to actually utilize it.”
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