TAKING a break in Bunbury from life aboard a US Navy ship wasn’t all sight-seeing and relaxation for three marines.
Last Friday, June 26, Lance Cpls. Zachary Schulling, Harrison Gordon and Daniel Bratsberg found themselves coming to the aid of a bus driver who suffered from a severe bout of food poisoning.
The three friends were looking forward to their first full day of liberty in Australia when they climbed onto a bus to head into Bunbury.
“We were basically the last ones off the ship because we decided to sleep in that day, and we were the only passengers,” Gordon said.
“We were just driving along the road toward Bunbury, and the man looked like a mess.
“He kept trying to talk to us but he had a really thick accent and we just couldn’t really understand him at all.”
Realising the driver may be suffering from a medical condition, the marines started paying closer attention.
“His voice was kind of groggy and it sounded like he had something in his mouth, and then I made out the word ‘ambulance’ from the driver,” said Schulling.
Caught in a vehicle with the driver in distress, the Marines said their training took over in what could have been a potentially dangerous situation.
“Immediately, we all stood up and reacted to the driver,” said Gordon.
After halting the bus, the Marines called an ambulance and allowed a pedestrian who said she had medical experience to assess driver.
While they waited for emergency services to arrive, the Marines directed traffic around the stopped bus. When the ambulance got to the scene, it accidentally passed the bus and continued on.
“We noticed the ambulance drove past us and took a wrong turn, so Bratsberg went to chase it down and brought it to us,” said Gordon.
“Once the paramedics were there we weren’t needed to help with the driver anymore, but we continued to direct traffic for about an hour until the ambulance took the driver away.”
Go West Tours has extended its thanks to the three marines who assisted one of its drivers who was shuttling them into Bunbury last week from the USS Ashland.
General Manager David Haoust said the driver suffered from a rapid onset of food poisoning and the marines noticed and assisted him to pull over and bring the bus to a halt.
"The bus driver had just picked up the marines so was only travelling at about 20km/hr when the incident occurred," Mr Haoust said.
"A driver in the bus following contacted me and I attended the site with a Go West back up crew. Thank you to the marines for their assistance in taking care of the driver and helping Go West with traffic management."
Mr Haoust said the bus driver was taken to hospital by ambulance for assessment and was out within a few hours. He has made a full recovery.
"Go West provided transport for the duration of the warship's five day visit and the marines and navy personnel were a pleasure to deal with," Mr Haoust said.
The USS Ashland left Bunbury on Tuesday morning.