Keesler doctor responds at high school football game Published Oct. 15, 2013 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- A member of the Keesler Medical Center staff was in the right place at the right time Oct. 7. Maj. (Dr.) Matthew Barchie, chief of the 81st Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron Mammography Department, was attending a football game between the ninth grade teams from Ocean Springs and D'Iberville High Schools when an Ocean Springs player collapsed on the field at D'Iberville's Warrior Stadium. Barchie was one of several physicians who happened to be attending the game and went to the aid of the fallen player. The major explained, "My daughter is on the Ocean Springs High School (junior varsity) cheerleading team. The school has three football teams: ninth grade, junior varsity and varsity. The ninth grade team plays at 5 p.m. Mondays and my daughter and her squad cheer at the ninth grade and JV games. I went there directly from work to watch her cheer and, since it was Monday, I was wearing blues. "I went to get sodas for my wife and me," he recalled. "When I returned to the stands, I noticed adults surrounding a player on the field. A man was running to the visitors' stands and said they needed a doctor. Another doc and I ran out there. As I approached, I saw the initial group of adults there start CPR. Some of them were physicians as well. "Together the team of docs and trainers took the appropriate actions, including initial assessment and CPR," Barchie continued. My part was preparing and employing the automatic external defibrillator. The AED recommended one shock and I administered it after ensuring no one was in contact with the patient. Shortly after the shock, the young man regained a pulse and spontaneous breathing. The team continued to monitor him and keep him still until emergency medical services arrived. The young man was able to wave to the crowd as he was placed in the ambulance. EMS transported him to the hospital for evaluation." He added, "The D'Iberville staff did a great job delivering the AED quickly. All the doctors and trainers who aided in his care should be commended. This shows the importance of having an AED available and using it, if appropriate, as soon as possible." An article in The Sun Herald quoted Harrison County athletics director Mike Gavin stating the player was later sent to the South Alabama Medical Center.